"Cheating Passengers": Shivraj Chouhan Slams Air India Over "Broken" Seat

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday slammed Tata Group-owned Air India for allotting him a "broken" seat on a flight from Bhopal to Delhi. In a post on X, the Minister alleged that when he asked the airline staff why the seat allotted to him was broken, they told him that the management had been informed earlier that it was not in good condition and its ticket should not be sold.

The airline apologised for the "inconvenience" caused to the Minister and said it was looking into the matter.

Mr Singh, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, said he was travelling to the national capital to inaugurate the "Kisan Mela", and was scheduled to hold a meeting of the Natural Farming Mission in Kurukshetra and meet the protesting farmers in Chandigarh.

"I had booked a ticket on Air India flight number AI436, I was allotted seat number 8C. I went and sat on the seat, the seat was broken and caved in. It was uncomfortable to sit," the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister wrote in Hindi.

आज मुझे भोपाल से दिल्ली आना था, पूसा में किसान मेले का उद्घाटन, कुरुक्षेत्र में प्राकृतिक खेती मिशन की बैठक और चंडीगढ़ में किसान संगठन के माननीय प्रतिनिधियों से चर्चा करनी है।

मैंने एयर इंडिया की फ्लाइट क्रमांक AI436 में टिकिट करवाया था, मुझे सीट क्रमांक 8C आवंटित हुई। मैं जाकर…

There was not just one such seat but many more, Mr Singh claimed.

"My co-passengers requested me to change my seat and sit on a better seat but why should I trouble another friend for my sake? I decided that I would complete my journey by sitting on this same seat," he said.

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"My impression was that Air India's service would have improved after Tata took over the management, but it turned out to be my misconception," he said, referring to the Air India-Vistara merger last year.

He also said he "doesn't care" about discomfort in sitting but it was "unethical" to make passengers sit on bad and uncomfortable seats after charging them the full amount.

"Isn't this cheating the passengers," Mr Singh asked.

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"Will the Air India management take steps to ensure that no passenger faces such inconvenience in future or will it continue to take advantage of the passengers' compulsion to reach their destination early," he wrote.

Air India, in response to his post, said it was looking into this matter "carefully to prevent any such occurrences in the future".

"We would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you, kindly DM us a convenient time to connect," it added.