In a recent incident, Air India has sparked controversy after downgrading a passenger from Business Class to Economy Class on a flight from Delhi to Washington DC. The move has raised questions about customer service standards and the airline’s adherence to established protocols.
Yesterday, an X user shared a troubling experience where her mother’s Business Class seat on a flight from Delhi to Washington DC was given away by the airline. Initially told it couldn’t recline, then informed it was designated for the crew, her mother later discovered another passenger occupying her seat while she was relegated to Economy Class.
“My mom’s seat was not given to crew, it was another passenger and she was relocated to an economy seat with fixed armrests. Extremely uncomfortable and unacceptable. The boarding pass had a business seat printed, and they hand wrote an economy seat number. Have shared w/ them,” the user wrote.
Updating the people on X, she later wrote that the airline has compensated 75% of the fare in addition to an upgrade voucher. “The ground staff at Delhi was extremely rude and behaved in a disgusting manner. My mother was listed in the flight manifest as a business class passenger, yet made to ride in economy,” she further said.
The user has threatened to sue Air India if a need arises, saying they need to understand that “they can’t do whatever they please with paying customers”.
Responding to one of her tweets, Air India said, “Dear Ma’am, we sincerely regret the hassle. Please help us with the booking details via DM for us to check and assist you.”
Similar experiences with Air India
Reacting to the incident, Founder of Leverage Edu Akshay Chaturvedi shared a similar personal experience when he was flying from DC to India with Air India. In this case, Chaturvedi, who had been up for 40 hours and needed to sleep, was told his Business Class seat does not recline. He added that no one entertained his requests. Moments later, Chaturvedi saw Air India staff giving his seat over to someone who came after him, adding that the airlines’ staff at the DC airport is “super corrupt”.
“I generally try to be over-polite with airlines’ staff, but such blatant misuse of power at the ground-level was appalling to see. In that instance, I even made a video of how someone else who came after me, went behind the counter to meet the admin there, was given my seat while I’m relegated to economy,” he wrote.
In his post, Chaturvedi attached several screenshots of the complaint he registered with Air India regarding their DC ground staff. He even named a few staffers in his complaint.
Chaturvedi was later given a Business Class voucher by the airline which he said was not what he needed. “Told them I didn’t need that (I don’t travel business all the time) but rather an assurance that this wouldn’t happen to anyone else and be investigated,” he wrote, adding that he never used the voucher.
Numerous individuals responded to these two incidents, conveying their disappointment with Air India. Some even recounted their personal encounters with the airline, pledging never to fly with them again.
