To offer a better in-flight passenger experience, Tata Group-promoted Air India is mulling installing modified seats replacing an earlier lot that had design flaws, sources said.
Accordingly, the airline has been working with seat manufacturer Geven on the new design.
As per sources, the seat that was flagged by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan as broken and sunken-in on the Air India flight from Bhopal to Delhi, was brand new and sourced from Geven.
“The issue of cushioning has been noticed on some seats that were provided by Geven. Following our observation, they had given a ship set of modified seats,” sources said, adding that the exercise was ongoing even before Minister Chauhan’s complain of a broken seat last week.
“We have installed these modified seats on one aircraft and are assessing whether the issue has been addressed.” Noting that the problem was only confined to few seats, sources said that the earlier lot provided by Geven was only installed on two aircraft.
On Saturday, an exclusively-sourced video of the seat in question by businessline showed that the seat reclined and wasn’t broken; however, industry insiders, pointed out that the cushioning might have been a problem. was not able to verify this claim.
Centre seeks report
Following Chauhan’s outcry on social media outlet X (formerly Twitter), the Centre sought a report from Air India on the issue.
“It was uncomfortable to sit. When I asked the airline staff why the seat was allotted to me if it was bad, they told me that the management had been informed earlier that this seat was not good and its ticket should not be sold. There is not just one such seat but many more,” Chauhan wrote on his social media handle at X.
He further said that it is “unethical to make passengers sit on bad and uncomfortable seats after charging them the full amount. Isn’t this cheating the passengers?”
According to a senior civil aviation ministry official, Air India has submitted its report.
The DGCA had asked Air India to file a report on the issue to identify any deficiencies in the seat and if the airline violated any provisions by selling such a product.
As per a 2022 directive, DGCA has barred airlines from selling broken seats.
On its part, Air India’s spokesperson, in an official statement on Saturday, had said, “Air India deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to Hon’ble Union Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan ji, on his flight from Bhopal to Delhi. This does not reflect the standard of service we strive to provide to our guests, and we are conducting a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.”