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Air India puts elderly couple flying to US on different flights

The airline carried out these changes without informing the couple and they got to know only when they tried to do an online check-in a day before their journey

An elderly couple planning to fly Air India to the US were put in two different flights and seperate destinations. The airline did not inform the passengers about the changes. (Photo by NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shajil Kumar

An elderly Indian couple planning to fly from New Delhi to Newark in the US by Air India were shocked to learn that they had been placed on different flights to separate destinations on different dates.

The airline carried out these changes without informing the couple and they got to know only when they tried to do an online check-in a day before their journey.

Dushyant Arora, a lawyer, took to X (formerly Twitter) to recount their travails. The elderly couple happened to be his partner’s parents and both suffer from heart ailments.

The couple was scheduled to fly to Newark, New Jersey on June 19. But when they tried to check in the previous night, they found that Air India had put them on separate flights.

The husband was put on a flight to New York, instead of Newark, while the wife’s destination remained unchanged. Both flights were to depart on different days.

Nobody from the airline contacted the couple to notify them about the changes. The couple had to cancel the tickets.

The airline responded to the X user expressing regret about the incident and informed that they have fully refunded the ticket fares.

Dissatisfied with Air India’s response, Arora wrote the elderly couple should instead be put on another flight together and to the correct destination.

When the Tata group took over the airline in 2022, after it was disinvested by the Narendra Modi government, many hoped that services would improve.

However, the airline continues to be in the news for the wrong reasons. Its track record of punctuality continues to be poor and is often plagued with excessive delays.

Recently a retired Rear Admiral of the Indian Navy had complained to a consumer court about a dysfunctional reclining seat while flying Air India on a business class ticket.

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