Air India Passenger Finds Blade in In-Flight Meal, Airline Responds
Air India Passenger Finds Blade in In-Flight Meal, Airline Responds
June 17, 2024
In a disturbing incident, an Air India passenger discovered a metal blade in his in-flight meal while traveling from Bengaluru to San Francisco. Mathures Paul, a journalist, shared his shocking experience on social media, highlighting the serious safety lapse aboard Air India flight AI 175.
According to Mr. Paul, he was enjoying his meal of roasted sweet potato and fig chaat when he felt a piece of metal in his mouth. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a metal blade. He shared images showing the blade alongside the food, expressing his disbelief and concern.
Air India food can cut like a knife. Hiding in its roasted sweet potato and fig chaat was a metal piece that looked like a blade. I got a feel of it only after chewing the grub for a few seconds. Thankfully, no harm was done. Of course, the blame squarely lies with Air India’s… pic.twitter.com/NNBN3ux28S
— Mathures Paul (@MathuresP) June 10, 2024
“Air India food can cut like a knife. Hiding in its roasted sweet potato and fig chaat was a metal piece that looked like a blade. I got a feel of it only after chewing the grub for a few seconds. Thankfully, no harm was done. Of course, the blame squarely lies with Air India’s catering service but the incident doesn’t help the image I have of Air India,” he wrote.
Mr. Paul also pointed out the potential danger of such an error, questioning the consequences if the meal had been served to a child. “What if the metal piece was in the food served to a child? First picture shows the metal piece that I spat out and the second picture shows the meal before it put metal into my life,” he added.
In response to the incident, Air India reached out to Mr. Paul and offered a one-way business class ticket valid on any Air India flight for up to a year. However, Mr. Paul declined the offer, describing it as a ‘bribe’. The airline later explained that the blade was part of a vegetable chopping machine used by its catering vendor.
“Air India confirms that a foreign object was found in the meal of a guest 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,” said Rajesh Dogra, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Air India.
Responding to Mr. Paul’s post on social media platform X, Air India stated, “Dear Mr. Paul, we are sorry to know about this. This does not represent the level of service we aim to provide to our passengers. Please DM us your booking details along with your seat number. We’ll ensure this matter is promptly reviewed and addressed.”
This incident has raised concerns about the safety and quality control measures in place at Air India’s catering services, prompting the airline to review and address the issue swiftly.
