A Pune-based author recently took to X to express his frustration with Air India Express following a harrowing flight experience. Aditya Kondawar, who is also the vice president of a startup, was on an Air India Express flight from Bengaluru to Pune on June 24 when he encountered several issues during his journey. He vowed to never travel with the airline again and said he would rather pay double and take a different airline next time.
Describing his ordeal, Mr Kondawar said his 9.50 pm flight was delayed by two hours and when he boarded it at 12.20 am, it was "stinking and the seats were so dirty and full of stains". He eventually reached home at 3 am after “sitting through multiple management interactions”.
''Thank you for teaching me a very valuable lesson last night. Never and I mean it with all seriousness - I am never flying Air India Express or Air India in my life again - I will pay 100% extra cost if needed but will take other airlines that are on time (only 2 other airline options anyways). Will take a bullock cart but not your airline,'' he wrote on X.
See the tweet here:
"I have immense respect for the Tata group and their leaders - I expect perfection from them always and this is a disaster honestly speaking!" Mr Kondawar added.
Air India Express later apologised saying that the Bengaluru to Pune flight was delayed by circumstances beyond their control. They also promised to ''fix the issue immediately.''
"Hi, Aditya! We apologize for the inconvenience caused due to the disruption in your flight schedule. Please note that the incoming flight was delayed due to reasons beyond our control. We will look into the issue raised regarding your aircraft experience and will fix it," the airline responded.
In another comment, the company wrote, “We never want our guests to have such an experience, Aditya. Rest assured, we've noted your feedback and will look into it. Please consider this an isolated incident and give us the chance to serve you better in the future.”
Meanwhile, several others shared similar experiences with Air India Express. One user said, ''They won't mend ways. It has become worse after take over. Earlier, it was only making losses. Now the service level has become pathetic.''
Another commented, ''Standard response! They don't care for customer satisfaction. If they did, these repetitive complaints would not have arisen. The main problem is the continuing PSU culture.''
A third said, ''Mine was even more horrible brother. The flight to Goa was 4 hrs delayed and then they found a bag on back seat in mid flight and kept the flight at isolation area at Dabolim airport for another 3 hrs. Further they kept our bagage for clearance for 1 more hr. Whole day wasted.''
