Panaji: AAP Goa President Amit Palekar, in a post on his X handle on Friday, complained that flying on Air India is an ordeal — passengers are told their seat is either non-reclining or broken, despite paying full fare.
Palekar posted a video from Delhi airport, where he was flying to Seoul with his wife on Friday evening.
Responding to his post, Air India wrote back stating that they were reviewing his concerns.
“Dear Mr. Palekar, we hear you and empathize with your experience. We are reviewing your concern on priority. Please allow us some time to get back to you with an update,” Air India stated on its official X handle, reacting to Palekar’s post.
In a long post, Palekar narrated his experience: “Welcome to @airindia. This is a common feature for those flying on Air India — facing the ordeal of being told that your seat is not reclining or is broken after paying full fare,” he said.
Palekar wrote, “This is my third time. I didn’t complain earlier. Why is @DGCAIndia allowing @TataCompanies to fly these aircraft which should have been grounded, as it concerns passenger safety, especially when reclined seats don’t come back up?”
He further said, “While my wife and I were at the counter waiting to take our flight from Delhi to Seoul, I met another passenger who flew from Vancouver to India on a nearly 18-hour flight after paying full business fare.”
Palekar questioned, “Why is DGCA allowing this?”
“They were asking us to take a full refund or fly on a broken seat by giving an undertaking. I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow, and my onward journey and hotel are booked. How would we get another flight unless we are willing to pay higher last-minute fares? So now we are being blackmailed to travel on a broken seat, putting our lives in danger,” he wrote.
Palekar said that Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu should intervene in such “fleecing by Air India under Tata’s ownership.”
