New Delhi, Feb 22: Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Saturday directed Air India to take necessary action after the Tata Group-owned carrier came under heavy fire over Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s discomfort with the airline’s service.
The Civil Aviation Minister personally reached out to Chouhan to address the issue, saying that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will also be looking into the details of the matter promptly.
Earlier in the day, the Union Agriculture Minister expressed his frustration over Air India’s poor service after he was allotted a broken seat on a flight from Bhopal to Delhi. Shortly after his complaint, BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar also raised concerns about the quality of service provided by the airline.
Chandrasekhar took to X to question the standards of Air India after its privatisation. “If it was anyone else other than the polite, gentleman minister @ChouhanShivraj ji, person would have created a justified angry response to this kind of incident,” he wrote.
He also pointed out the lack of competition in full-service airlines after Tata’s takeover of Air India, saying: “Tatas takeover of @airindia has created a situation of reducing competition and consumer choice in full-service airlines – which leads to complacency and chalta hai!”
The BJP leader urged the Tata Group to address these issues immediately, warning that failure to do so could lead to government and regulatory intervention. Chouhan had complained about being assigned a broken seat on an Air India flight from Bhopal to Delhi.
“I had booked a ticket on Air India flight number AI436, I was allotted seat number 8C,” he wrote on X. Following Chouhan’s complaint, Air India also issued an apology for the inconvenience caused and ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.
IANS