A passenger and a small-time investor who recently took the Air India New Delhi-Newark flight (AI 105) had a horrible experience with the airline. He booked a business class flight for an office trip and everything from the seats to take off timing and the quality of in flight food was just wrong.
Narrating his dismal experience, the passenger wrote on X, "HORROR STORY with Air India business class flight from New Delhi-Newark (AI 105). After flying with Emirates for a few years, I recently moved to Air India as they offer direct flights to NY, Chicago and London which are my frequent travel destinations. Yesterday's flight was no less than a nightmare," he wrote.
He mentioned that the food served was not cooked and even the fruits were stale, something he claimed he had never faced while travelling with Air India before.
"Woke up after a few hours, the food was served and it was uncooked (never faced this in AI), the fruits were stale (everyone onboard returned back). TV/screen never worked. Not that I would have watched, just tried and it showed 'not found' error," he said.
Furthermore, he noted that the "final nail in the coffin" was when he found out that his luggage was damaged as well. "After all this, final nail in the coffin is THEY BROKE MY LUGGAGE. BAD FOOD, WORN OUT SEATS, DIRTY SEAT COVERS, NON WORKING TV for Rs 5,00,000 (round trip), Damaged by luggage. I had Etihad at a cheaper price, but chose AI as it offers a direct flight service," the user signed off.
Replying to his post, the user mentioned that the handles on his luggage were broken and the tags as well as the lock and zip tie were also missing. He also claimed that Air India deleted the response to his post on X. Social media users empathised with the aggrieved passenger.
While some took the airline to task for serving rotten food, others shared their experiences.
"I had a trip from Bangalore to San Francisco (AI 175) on June 9. In the bowl of fig chaat they served a blade. And I realised it was in my food after I chewed it for 2 or 3 seconds. As soon as I spat it out, I realised what the object was. The stewardess apologised for exactly three seconds and came back with a bowl of chickpeas. First, it is dangerous to have a blade on any flight. Second, it could have cut through my tongue. Third, what if a child was eating this food. A few days later, they mailed to say I could take a business class trip anywhere in the next year. That is a bribe and I don't accept it," a user said.
"I recently experienced the same. They apologised in reply. Nothing moves there I believe," yet another person wrote. "Serving rotten food is an extremely serious food safety breach. Imagine if cabin equipment maintenance is so poor, how bad actual flight maintenance is? This is an airline, actively seeking out an aviation disaster," a user said.
"My story is also very sad. I traveled international in Air India business class on 16 June. The seats do not recline. Food served was below average. Air hostess attempted repeatedly to speak in English when she didn't have elementary knowledge of the language," another user said.