Air India passenger finds metal blade in inflight meal
The passenger says that he had received an email from Air India Care mentioning that they value the relationship and would like to provide a goodwill offer of a one-way business class ticket across any Al flight, redeemable within one year of issuance
Chaat bowl in which the passenger onboard Air India Bengaluru-San Francisco flight found a blade.
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A passenger onboard the Air India flight from Bengaluru to San Francisco recently had an unpleasant experience while having the inflight meal as he found a metal blade in a bowl of chaat that was served to him.
Mathures Paul, a journalist who was onboard AI 175 from Bengaluru to San Francisco on June 9, shared this Bangalore to San Francisco experience with The Hindu on Monday, June 17.
“I took the 1.50 p.m. Air India flight (AI 175) on June 9 from Bengaluru to San Francisco (seat number 7C). The first half of the flight was thankfully uneventful. For lunch (main course), I was served quite a few items on the tray, and I decided to begin with the fig chaat, which I was having while watching the film Priscilla (onboard entertainment). A few spoonfuls into the chaat, I felt something hard/metallic inside the mouth, and after chewing for two-three seconds, I spat it out into the bowl to find a blade,” said Mr. Paul.
He added that he immediately complained to the stewardess about finding the metal blade.
“Obviously, I complained to the stewardess who spoke for four-five seconds. The conversation went something like: Sorry about this and we will inform the catering team. She returned with a bowl of chickpea salad,” he added.
Upon landing in San Francisco, Mr. Paul said that he posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the incident. However, he said that there was no response from Air India (except from the Air India bot on X).
He said that two or three days later, somebody from the airline’s customer service/social media team called to say the matter would be looked into.
“On June 15 at 8.30 p.m., I received an email from Air India Care, and it reads: “We value our relationship and would request you to accept our goodwill offer of a one-way business class ticket across any Al flight, redeemable within one year of issuance. We look forward to your response and would request you to look at this incident in isolation, allowing us to serve you to a better experience the next time you travel with us,” he said.
To this mail, Mr. Paul said that he replied the following: “This is a bribe and it doesn’t address the issue. I don’t accept such freebies and I will not accept the ticket.”
Air India confirmed that a foreign object was found in the meal of Mr. Paul.
“Air India confirms that a foreign object was found in a guest’s meal aboard one of our flights. After investigation, it has been identified as coming from the vegetable processing machine used at the facilities of our catering partner. We have worked with our catering partner to strengthen measures to prevent any recurrence, including more frequent checking of the processor, especially after chopping any hard vegetable. Air India has engaged with the affected customer and deeply apologizes for this experience,” said Rajesh Dogra, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Air India.
A spokesperson of TajSATS, the company that supplied the food, said, “We apologise for the unfortunate incident. We are committed to the highest standards of food safety and have strengthened our processes of comprehensive inspection and preventive maintenance of all our production equipment.”
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