From broken seats to clogged toilets: Times when Indian airlines provided below par service

New Delhi: Air travel is still considered a luxury in the country. This even though the government has started many low-cost and short-distance flights across the country, under its UDAN scheme. However many passengers are often seen complaining that even after paying a good amount of money to some of the top airlines in the country, their travel experience is nowhere near luxurious. In fact they claim that they often receive poor service and unclean aircraft.

Here are some of the incidents which highlight the need for Indian carriers to pull up their socks and start providing better services to passengers.

1. Broken seat inside aircraft: In an incident reported in February this year, Union Minister for Agriculture, Shivraj Singh Chauhan was reportedly given a broken seat on a flight from Bhopal to Delhi. The former CM of Madhya Pradesh was flying from Bhopal to Delhi on an Air India flight, when he realised that his allotted seat was broken.

The Minister took to social media platform 'X' to report the incident. He wrote, "Today I had to come from Bhopal to Delhi, inaugurate the Kisan Mela in Pusa, hold a meeting of the Natural Farming Mission in Kurukshetra and discuss with the representatives of the Kisan Organisation in Chandigarh. I had booked a ticket on Air India flight number AI436, I was allotted seat number 8C. I went and sat on the seat, the seat was broken and sunken in. It was uncomfortable to sit."

Reportedly other passengers offered to exchange seats with the Minister, but he refused the offer. He then blamed the airlines for "cheating passengers." When Chaouhan questioned the airline's staff about their condition of his seat, he was told that the airline's management was aware about the condition of the seat and the tickets for the same were not to be sold.

Following outrage over the matter, the DGCA called a meeting with Air India. The airline was asked to explain how a broken seat was given to a passenger. The airlines apologised to Chouhan and said in a public statement that this was not the level of service that they provided. They also said that a thorough investigation is being conducted in the matter.

2. Clogged lavatories: Another problem on Indian aircrafts has been clogged lavatories. In March 2025, an Air India aircraft Boeing 777 was flying over Greenland when most of its toilets broke down. The plane was forced to return to Chicago, where all passengers disembarked. Reports said that the toilets of the aircraft were clogged due after clothes were flushed down. When the toilets were checked by the staff, they found polythene bags, rags, and clothes that had been flushed down and stuck in the plumbing. This has caused the toilets to overflow.

The toilets are also clogged as many of the aircraft used by Indian airlines are old. This leads to ducts of the lavatories being old and they cannot suck in everything, right from blankets to plastic and diapers which some unruly passengers chose to throw in.

3. No wheelchairs for the elderly: The woes however are not just in-flight for the passengers. Some of the passengers start facing trouble even before they have boarded the aircraft. In one such instance, an elderly lady was not provided with a wheelchair at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Her family had reportedly booked a wheelchair beforehand but the same was not available when they reached the airport. This forced the lady to walk into the airport crossing the road and also the parking area. The lady was exhausted and collapsed inside the airport and suffered a major injury.

The airline however denied any wrongdoing. They claimed that the lady was asked to wait for just 15 minutes and the staff did assist her throughout.

4. Cockroach in meal: In a terrible incident reported in September 2024, a passenger flying from Delhi to New York reported being served food which had cockroaches in it. The woman reportedly found the insect in her omelette. The woman was reportedly flying with her 2-year-old daughter and they had finished almost half of the meal by the time they discovered the insect inside. She complained that she suffered from food poisoning post her flight.

The airlines after her post on 'X' asked for the booking details. They claimed that an investigation was on in the matter.