The trail of unfortunate ordeals for customers of Air India and Air India express flights does not appear anywhere close to cessation. After multiple instances of botched processes and poorly managed flights with Air India, it is now the turn of its sister service, Air India Express, to garner laurels of ignominy.
The Turnaround That Was Not To be
The trailing Air India network under the state (government of India) was expected to see a massive turnaround after the homecoming of the airline to its 'original' owner, Tata Group. But little appears to have changed for the institution that it is for many.
Controversies have surrounded the company since the beginning of the new stint under new owners. At first, the commotion surrounded the airline's management in the transition period.
Then there was another controversy surrounding the merger of Air India and Vistara. In the recent past, many instances of customer grievances have come to the fore.
The most recent development of them all came with the revelation of an Air India Express passenger, who took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account to express his umbrage over his travail while travelling with Air India Express.
The X user, talking about his ordeal, said, "9:50 pm Flight took off at 12:15/12:20 am - The flight was stinking and the seats were so dirty and full of stains (IX 974 BLR to Pune) Had started my day yesterday at 1.50 am from Pune to BLR - Walked through a large factory and sat through multiple management interactions".
Expressing his anger, he said, "Never and I mean it with all seriousness - I am never flying Air India Express or Air India in my life again and Will take a bullock cart but not your airline".
International Passengers Raise Concerns
This, unfortunately, was not the first such instance of inconvenience. Just in the past few weeks, there have been reports of similar developments. Barely 10 days ago, an Air India international passenger travelling from Bangalore to San Francisco on Flight No. 175, found a blade in his food while on his way to the US.
Another incident came to pass just a few days before the aforementioned incident. This time, once again, a US-bound international passenger found himself in the quagmire of a conundrum. A passenger travelling from New Delhi to Newark in New Jersey was treated with bad service from all sides.
He had to face soiled sheets and dirty chairs while on his transcontinental flight. The ordeal did not end there, as the in-flight entertainment system was also not functional.
Many such instances have been reported in the recent past, raising the question of whether anything had changed at all after the much-venerated public-to-private transition.
