Union minister of agriculture and farmers' welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday lashed out at Tata Group-owned Air India for allotting him a broken seat on a flight from Bhopal to Delhi while charging the full amount, asking if the airline was "cheating" air passengers.

Taking to microblogging platform X, Chouhan said it was a “misconception” that Air India’s services have improved after Tata took over the management. January 2025 marked the third year of Air India’s return to the Tata Group.

“I had booked a ticket on Air India flight number AI 436 and was allotted seat number 8C. “I went and sat on the seat, the seat was broken and sunken in. It was uncomfortable to sit,” Chouhan wrote in a post on X.

“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 are not just one such seat but many more,” he said.

“My co-passengers requested me to change my seat and sit on a better seat but why should I trouble another friend for my sake, I decided that I would complete my journey by sitting on this same seat,” he said.

“I don't care about discomfort in sitting but it is unethical to make passengers sit on bad and uncomfortable seats after charging them full amount. Isn't this cheating the passengers?” he asked.

“Will the Air India management take steps to ensure that no passenger faces such inconvenience in future or will it continue to take advantage of the passengers' compulsion to reach their destination early?”

Responding to the Union minister's post on X, Air India apologised for the "inconvenience caused." "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," an Air India spokesperson said.

The merger of the four Tata airlines into one full-service airline, Air India, and one low-cost carrier, Air India Express, was completed in late 2024.

Earlier this year, Air India MD and CEO Campbell Wilson said Air India has covered a lot of ground in the period since privatisation while acknowledging there’s much more to be done. Interior refit of the single-aisle fleet, serving domestic and short-haul international destinations, is already well underway, and will be complete by mid-2025, he said.