New Delhi: What ails Air India?
Not a week passes before a passenger complains of poor services from the airline that was acquired by the Tatas. A lot of positive changes were expected when this change of management took place.
Barely two days after a passenger on a Chicago-New Delhi flight alleged that cabin crew force business class passengers to downgrade themselves to economy class, so they (the crew) may use the business class seats to sleep, visuals of an elderly woman, attempting to make herself comfortable on a sofa, at what is supposedly an airport, is doing the rounds on social media.
The woman in question is the mother of Soma Maitra, a passenger who expressed her displeasure over Linkedin, accusing Air India staff of ‘complete lack of sensitivity’.
Soma was flying to Vancouver from New Delhi with her 84-year-old mother. She had booked business class tickets on the business class of a direct New Delhi-Vancouver flight for the comfort of her mother.
In her post titled “A heartbreaking Air India experience. A plea to the Tata leadership”, Soma writes how the journey from New Delhi to Vancouver turned out to be a more than 22-hour ordeal.
Knowing her mother’s age and health needs, her family carefully chose Air India’s direct Delhi-to-Vancouver flight and booked business class to ensure comfort, especially with wheelchair support and fewer layovers.
“We planned it with so much care. She flew in from Kolkata. I came in from Mumbai. We met at the airport in Delhi, ready for our dream journey. But at the check-in counter, a casual comment shattered it all,” Soma said.
They were informed at the check-in counter that the seats in business class were not working. “We’ll either offload you or shift you to economy,” Soma was told.
She said that there was no apology or explanation or empathy from the airport or the airline staff.
“We had paid for business class, only to be told we were lucky to be “offered” economy class. Eventually, after much protest, we were rerouted via London. The very thing we were trying to avoid,” Soma wrote.
This was not only inconvenient for her mother, but also exhausting for the elderly woman. According to Soma, they realised that instead of a 7 am arrival, their journey would now end at 3:30 pm, after much more physical and emotional strain.
Soma said what hurt the most was the lack of compassion at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3. She said that no one took responsibility, and there was no sign of the values people associate with the Tata Group.
She called on Tata and Air India leadership to take note. “We expect better. We deserve better,” she said.
Soma claimed that this experience was more than a delay for her. It was about dignity, trust, and the promises airlines make to passengers when they take their money and time.
She added that her mother was trying to stay strong through the ordeal. but her own heart felt heavy. She ended her post with a photo of her mother trying to rest at the airport.
