A passenger of an
IndiGo flight encountered an unexpected scene onboard the aircraft while travelling from Pune to Nagpur on November 26 and this is now gaining traction on social media. The passenger found that the cushion of her assigned seat, 10A, was missing on flight number 6E-6798.
According to a Times of India report, the passenger identified as Sagarika Patnaik shared a photo of the missing cushion of the seat with her husband Subrat Patnaik. The photo shared on X by Subrat drew severe criticism for IndiGo and prompted a response from the airline.
As reported by the Times of India, Subrat Patnaik said that his wife was initially shocked to see the missing seat cushion and looked for it around. She informed the cabin crew, but as the boarding process continued, she found herself standing in the aisle, causing inconvenience to other passengers. However, later the crew members of the flight resolved the issue by getting a spare cushion from another seat.
In an X post, Subrat Patnaik shared a photo of the missing seat cushion.
“Indigo!! Flight 6E 6798!! Seat no 10A! Pune to Nagpur!!! Today’s status. Best way to increase profit. Pathetic.”
Soon after the photo was shared on X, it attracted several comments from users, with many slamming the airline for poor services. Meanwhile,
IndiGo replied, “Hi, that's certainly not good to see. At times, the seat cushion gets adrift from its Velcro. The same can be repositioned with the help of our crew. Further, your feedback will be shared with the concerned team for review. Hope to serve you better in the future.”
Following the response from Indigo, Subrat wrote, “Hi, appreciate your response. But, surprised how this was missed by ground staff as well as the crew to check the cleaning status before boarding? This is affecting the image of a great brand like IndiGo.”
“We completely understand your disappointment, Sir. We have duly noted your feedback. Looking forward to serving you better in the future,” IndiGo replied.
However, the airline’s response drew criticism with many calling out IndiGo for its poor service.
“What an arrogant automated reply. Monopoly sometimes sucks,” wrote a user.
Another wrote, “That should have been checked and replaced with a spare one before boarding the passengers! How cabin crew can ask passengers to check for themselves?”
“
Indigo why your answer is very sarcastic and full of arrogant behaviour, you mean next time I should go and check whether the engine is perfectly fine to fly, later on indigo will say why you haven't taken help from our engineers,” read a third comment.
As reported by the Times of India, aviation expert Dairyashil Vandekar said, “Under no circumstances are airlines supposed to offer broken or unserviceable seats to passengers, for obvious reasons. The
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned the airlines in this regard in the past. Despite that, if such incidents happen, the DGCA must take strict action.”
Previously, in May last year, the
DGCA imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on IndiGo. The fine was imposed on the aviation company for not allowing a boy with special needs to board a flight from Ranchi.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
