“Cheating Passengers”: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Slams Air India Over Broken Seat, Airline Responds

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to X to share a frustrating experience with Air India, accusing the airline of “cheating passengers” after being assigned a broken seat. The senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister didn’t hold back, questioning the airline’s service quality and ethics under its Tata Group management. Air India quickly responded with an apology, promising to investigate the matter.

Chouhan was traveling from Bhopal to Delhi on Air India flight AI436 for a packed day of official events—inaugurating the Kisan Mela in Pusa, attending a Natural Farming Mission meeting in Kurukshetra, and meeting farmers’ representatives in Chandigarh. He was assigned seat 8C, but when he sat down, he found it “broken and sunken,” making it uncomfortable for the roughly 90-minute flight. “It was tough to sit there,” he posted on X.

When Chouhan asked the crew about the defective seat, their response shocked him. They admitted the airline’s management already knew it was in bad shape and had instructed that tickets for it shouldn’t be sold. Worse, Chouhan learned there were other broken seats on the plane still being assigned to passengers. “Isn’t this cheating the passengers?” he asked, pointing out the unfairness of charging full fare for faulty seats.

Fellow passengers offered to swap seats with the minister, but Chouhan declined. “Why should I trouble another friend for my sake?” he said. Instead, he stuck it out in 8C for the whole journey. His decision won praise online, but it also fueled his criticism of Air India. “I thought service would improve after Tata took over, but I was wrong,” he added, expressing disappointment in the airline’s post-privatization performance.

ALSO READ | “Where ignorance is bliss…” Shashi Tharoor’s Cryptic Post Sparks Buzz After Congress Ignorance

Chouhan made it clear his issue wasn’t just personal discomfort. “It’s unethical to charge full fare and make passengers sit on defective seats,” he said. He challenged Air India’s management: “Will they take steps to ensure no passenger faces this again, or will they keep taking advantage of people’s need to travel?” His outspoken post has sparked a wave of reactions online, with many echoing his call for better accountability.

Air India didn’t waste time responding. In a reply on X, the airline said, “Dear Sir, we apologize for the inconvenience caused. Please be rest assured that we are looking into this matter carefully to prevent any such occurrences in the future.” They also asked Chouhan to message them privately to discuss further, signaling an intent to address his complaint personally.

This isn’t Air India’s first brush with bad press recently. Just last month, passengers on a Mumbai-to-Dubai flight were stuck inside the plane for nearly five hours due to a delay, banging on overhead bins in frustration. Before that, a father claimed Air India bumped him and his son from business class to economy, leaving their stroller behind in Delhi. These incidents have raised questions about the airline’s service standards since Tata Group took over in 2022.