Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan criticised Air India for poor service after his uncomfortable journey from Bhopal to Delhi on Saturday (Feb 22).

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He was allotted a broken seat, which he found "uncomfortable to sit" in. Chouhan questioned Air India's management, asking if they would take steps to prevent such incidents, and expressed disappointment that the airline's service hadn't improved since Tata took over.

Taking to social media platform X, Chouhan shared his ordeal and said that he was travelling on Air India flight AI436 and was assigned seat 8C. Upon sitting, he realised the “seat was broken and sunken in, making it extremely uncomfortable”.

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“When I asked the airline staff why the seat was allotted to me if it was bad, they told me that the management had been informed earlier that this seat was not good and its ticket should not be sold. There are not just one such seat but many more. 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 wrote on X.

“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. I don't care about discomfort in sitting but it is unethical to make passengers sit on bad and uncomfortable seats after charging them full amount. Isn't this cheating the passengers?” he added.

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Air India apologises

Chouhan urged Air India to take corrective action to prevent such issues for its travellers.

“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 urged.

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Following his post, Air India apologised for the inconvenience. "Dear Sir, we apologise for the inconvenience caused. Please be rest assured that we are 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," the airline wrote in its reply.

DGCA  instructs Air India to take necessary action

The Civil Aviation Ministry also stepped in, and Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu responded to the incident. The Ministry said that Naidu has spoken to Chouhan in this regard.

"We spoke to Air India immediately on this issue and instructed them to take necessary action. From our side, DGCA will also be looking into details of the matter promptly. And I have personally spoken to Shivraj ji also," it said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)