A woman has slammed Air India on the X website after it allegedly gave up her mother’s business class seat to another passenger on a Delhi-Washington flight. The user Vitastar called the airline’s behavior “absolutely ridiculous” and criticized Air India for “disrespecting customers”.

In a tweet, she recounted the frustrating experience, saying her mother was initially told her business class seat couldn’t recline. She was then told the seat was reserved for crew but later saw another passenger sitting there. Meanwhile, her mother was moved to economy class with fixed armrests, which was “uncomfortable and unacceptable” to her.

“@airindia How dare you give up my mom’s business class seat to someone else on a long haul flight from Delhi to Washington DC? First told her the seat couldn’t recline, then said the seat was for the crew and then… When she was sent to economy class she noticed there were other people sitting there?” Ms Vestasta wrote on X.

“Absolutely ridiculous behavior and no respect for your customers! We will complain about this. Air India, do better!” she added.

This is the post:

. @airindia How dare you give up my mom’s business class seat to someone else on a long-haul flight from Delhi to Washington, DC? First told her the seat couldn’t recline, then said the seat was for the crew, then when she was sent to economy class she found out there were other people sitting there?

—𝙑𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖 (@baavri) March 26, 2024

The airline later contacted her and assured her they were investigating the matter with the airport team as a matter of priority. “Dear Madam, please be assured that we are investigating this matter with the airport team on a priority basis. We will be in touch with you shortly,” they wrote.

Dear Madam, please be assured that we are investigating this matter with the airport team on a priority basis. We will contact you shortly.

— Air India (@airindia) March 27, 2024

Later, the user said that the airline offered to compensate her for 75% of the fare and gave her an upgrade coupon.

“Update as follows: They reimbursed 75% of the fare + an upgrade voucher (what a joke). The ground staff in Delhi were extremely rude and their behavior was disgusting. My mother was listed as a business class passenger on the flight manifest, But was forced to fly economy class,” she wrote.

“The issue remains that a passenger was given a seat to my mother. My mother’s boarding pass stated business seat. My mother has health issues and paid a higher fare to travel in comfort, Delhi ground staff Tell her that if she doesn’t simply sit in an economy seat, her luggage will be taken off the plane,” she added.

However, netizens were not convinced by the airline’s compensation action and asked users to complain against it.

One user wrote, “Please complain to the consumer forum about the lack of service.” Another user commented, “Don’t accept 75%, she paid for the service and didn’t receive it, she should get 100% minimum.” Three points. One said, “@airindia’s careless, arrogant culture will never change, no matter who owns it. This behavior will never change no matter what.”

A fourth added, “Reimbursing fares is not the answer.” Your mom booked a business class seat for a comfortable trip. Getting your money back is not the answer. Air India cannot get away with refunds either. The whole point of booking a business class seat is comfort. Refunds are neither here nor there. “

“Too bad,” a fifth wrote, hoping she would refuse to fly. They’d be better off refunding the entire fare for this incident. “