Air India stone controversy: Air India, which has been facing a series of controversies due to its mismanagement mid-air, seems it has decided to not leave any "stone unturned" to hamper its image.
In the latest controversy, a passenger has found a "stone" in her in-flight meal on an Air India plane. Sarvapriya Sangwan, whose Twitter profile identifies her as a journalist and prestigious Ramnath Goenka, Red Ink awardee, took to the social media platform to complain about her recent trip wherein she found a stone while travelling from an Air India flight (AI 215) Delhi to Kathmandu on January 8, Sunday.
"You don’t need resources and money to ensure stone-free food Air India (@airindiain). This is what I received in my food served on flight AI 215 today. Crew member, Ms Jadon was informed. This kind of negligence is unacceptable," tweeted the scribe.
Air India responds to scribe's tweets
Meanwhile, following the complaint of finding a stone in her in-flight meal on an Air India plane, the airline on Tuesday said it has taken serious note of the incident and will initiate strict action against the caterer.
Responding to the tweet, Air India tweeted saying that "this is concerning and we're taking this up immediately with our catering team". "Please allow us some time to get back. We appreciate you bringing this to our notice," the airline said in the tweet on January 8.
"Air India has taken serious note of the incident where a passenger found a stone in her in-flight meal on AI 215. We sincerely regret this incident and have apologised to the passenger," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We have taken up the matter with the caterer and will be initiating strict action against the caterer," the spokesperson said.
Air India urination row continues
Air India, which has been facing severe backlash following the "urination" row on its flight, has again landed in a controversy, wherein it did not take appropriate action against two similar incidents. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-- a regulatory body-- two incidents occurred on a Paris-New Delhi flight on December 6, last year, where two passengers misbehaved with their co-passenger.
In the first incident, the DGCA noted that a passenger was caught smoking in the lavatory, was drunk and didn't listen to the crew. In another incident, a passenger allegedly urinated on a vacant seat and blanket of a fellow female passenger when she went to the lavatory.
"Airline has been lackadaisical and delayed"
According to a statement released by the DGCA, the concerned airline didn't report the incident until the airline regulatory body sought the incident report from them on January 5. "After perusal of the reply submitted by Air India through email dated January 6, prima facie it emerges that provisions related to the handling of unruly passengers as per DGCA CAR Section -3, Series-M, Part-VI have not been complied with," the press release said. DGCA said It has been noted that the response of the airline has been "lackadaisical and delayed".
