Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday lambasted Air India after he found his aircraft seat "broken and sunken".

He said he was travelling from Bhopal to Delhi and had boarded the Delhi-bound Air India flight AI436 from Bhopal.

"I was allotted seat number 8C. When I reached my seat and sat down, I found that it was broken and sunk. Sitting was uncomfortable," Chouhan, who is also a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in Hindi.

When he confronted the crew over the allotment of a defective seat, he was told that the management had been apprised about the condition of the seat which shouldn't be sold to passengers.

Chouhan claimed several seats on the flight were in a similar condition.

Air India later responded, apologising: “Please be rest assured that we are looking into this matter carefully to prevent any such occurrences in the future. We would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you, kindly DM us a convenient time to connect.”

Chouhan said he assumed Air India's service would have improved after being taken over by the Tata management, but he was mistaken.

The minister is not the only one venting frustration with the airline. Here’s a quick compilation of some recent complaints about the service onboard Air India.

Narinder Kaur’s mid-flight assault

On October 24, 2024, British TV star Narinder Kaur was assaulted by a fellow passenger for reclining her seat in an Air India flight. In her X post, Kaur wrote, “AIR RAGE is real and I had a terrible experience with a woman literally punching and kicking my seat forward as it was reclined.” She added, “She flung me forward, and I didn’t have my belt on. She proceeded to verbally abuse me. FYI she wasn’t even drunk.”

Kaur criticised Air India’s handling of the incident: “Your staff failed to give me options on having her arrested on landing.”

She also raised concerns about the lack of clarity in dealing with unruly passengers.

Urvashi Dholakia’s damaged luggage

In January this year, television actress Urvashi Dholakia received her luggage in a badly damaged condition following her Air India flight from London to Mumbai. She shared a video of her broken suitcases on social media.

“My luggage is TOTALLY DAMAGED BY @airindia AND IT IS EXTREMELY SAD AS I USED TO BE PROUD OF AIR INDIA! #AI130 LHR (London) to Mumbai,” she posted.

In the video, she said: “Terrible mishandling by Air India. Never travelling Air India again.” She also said she had paid an extra baggage fee: “I need a full refund and I should get it. Terrible handling.”

Cockroach in food

In September 2024, a passenger reportedly found a cockroach in her omelette on an Air India flight from Delhi to New York. The passenger posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Found a cockroach in the omelette served to me on the @airindia flight. My 2-year-old finished more than half of it with me when we found this. Suffered from food poisoning as a result.”

Air India responded to her: “Dear Ms. Savant, we’re very sorry to hear about your experience. Please share your booking details via DM so that we can investigate promptly.”

Later, the airline posted that they were investigating the matter.

Ricky Kej’s business-class downgrade

In August 2024, Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej posted about Air India downgrading his business-class ticket to economy without explanation or a refund. He posted on X: “Wow.. 3rd time this is happening to me in one year. I booked and paid for a business class ticket on @airindia from Mumbai to Bengaluru. When I reach the departure gate, the staff rudely tells me that I have been downgraded (for no reason) and they cannot give me a refund.”

Despite repeated complaints, Kej was not satisfied with the airline’s response. When Air India assured him that his issue was being looked into, he hit back, saying: “Don’t lie @airindia, that is the least you can do. Your message does not have any indication on the exact amount of refund, the mode of receiving it. Just giving vague percentages does not help anyone.”

Lost baggage

In January 2025, a passenger flying from Delhi to Bengaluru with Air India experienced a puzzling baggage mishap. He wrote on X, “At baggage counter, Mrinal got his baggage. But my baggage seems to be missing. Well, we reported it at the counter.”

While baggage being delayed is not unusual on long-haul flights, it’s rare in domestic ones.

Despite Air India’s baggage tracking system showing that the bag had arrived in Bengaluru, he later found out that it was never loaded and was still in Delhi’s Lost & Found department.

“Now, it's been 2 days since. Zero calls, Zero emails. I called multiple times to go to unanswered numbers. And now, I'm being updated that the bag was never loaded and it's in Delhi Lost&Found department. Like, how can you make such tech and mess it up.” he asked.

He also shared an image from a website that tracks misplaced luggage globally, showing that Air India ranked at the top.

Infant’s seat

In February this year, a passenger posted that Air India changed his pre-booked bassinet seat, meant for his 6-month-old infant, to another passenger at the check-in counter. He wrote on X, “Just want to thank you for the worst flight experience ever! My daughter only slept for 5 hours in the last 24 hours as she had medical issues and needed rest which was denied.”

The user further also stated, his wife, who has a spinal problem, was also uncomfortable throughout the journey. The passenger called it “pure harassment,” stating: “Our seat, which can only have a bassinet option, was given to a Dutch mom and daughter who had no child. They both were 30+, so it makes no sense to take away the seat from an infant and give it to an adult!”

Air India replied, stating that bassinet seats are subject to availability: “Dear Sir, we sincerely apologize to hear about the experience. Please know, the bassinet seats are subject to availability and depend on the type of aircraft. However, your feedback has been noted and will be shared to implement the necessary improvements. For privacy, please delete the details from the tweet to avoid misuse.”