Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej has criticised Air India for substandard service in a series of posts on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, recounting two separate incidents during recent flights. Kej, who has publicly voiced his frustrations, described long delays and poor customer care, which he believes point to deeper issues within the airline.
In the first incident, Kej detailed his experience on Sept. 14, while travelling business class from Delhi to Bengaluru. He arrived at the check-in counter with overweight luggage and offered to pay for the excess baggage. However, the airline refused to accept payment via UPI, a widely used digital payment method, and directed him to a distant counter.
"They refused UPI… Air India does not accept it," Kej said. After nearly an hour of walking between counters and insisting on making the payment, the airline finally accepted his UPI payment at the check-in counter. "This is a systemic issue with Air India where they just do not care about their paying/loyal customers," he said, urging the airline to review the CCTV footage of the incident.
(Read the entire thread) So, I thought a lot about this, waited to cool off, and decided to post calmly. Two incidents that happened recently with @AirIndia. I am certain a few people will troll me, asking me why do I keep doing this to myself.. travel through such a terrible… pic.twitter.com/juvxPJm1pQ
— Ricky Kej (@rickykej) September 29, 2024
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The second incident occurred on a Sept. 20, flight from Mumbai to San Francisco. While walking in the economy cabin, Kej witnessed a flight attendant repeatedly ignoring a passenger's service call. "The same passenger has called her for a third time," he said after intervening. Kej added that one crew member was out of uniform and accessing the service area while appearing to skip her break.
Kej's post followed an incident where an Air India passenger reported discovering a cockroach in a meal served during a flight from Delhi to New York.
Kej expressed disappointment with Air India’s treatment of its passengers, citing both incidents as evidence of deeper operational issues. Despite his frustrations, he said he will continue to fly with the airline, saying, "I will continue to fly Air India… Hopefully, (such incidents will be) lesser in frequency."
Air India has taken the feedback seriously and will take corrective steps where necessary so that such incidents are not repeated, the company's spokesperson said in a statement. "We regret the inconvenience caused to the customer and appreciate his support to the ongoing transformation of the airline. Such isolated incidents are not representative of the commitment of our staff towards service excellence," the spokesperson added.
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