Indian-origin Grammy winner Ricky Kej flags concerns about Air India; airline says will take corrective steps
Indian-origin Grammy winner Ricky Kej flags concerns about Air India; airline says will take corrective steps
Ricky Kej, a Grammy Award-winning artist, has expressed serious concerns regarding Air India’s services following two troubling incidents he experienced while traveling. The airline has acknowledged his feedback and stated that corrective actions will be taken as needed.
Incident at Delhi Airport
On September 14, Kej was at the Delhi airport preparing to board an Air India flight to Bengaluru. He encountered problems related to excess baggage payment. In a detailed post on social media, he recounted his experience, highlighting the unhelpful behavior of the airline staff.
Kej, who was traveling business class and had not slept for two days after performing a concert, found that his luggage was 6 kilos overweight. He immediately offered to pay the excess charges, a common practice for him due to his profession. However, the staff (Devika, Ravi Kumar, Mukeeta & Neha) directed him to a distant counter to make the payment instead of providing a wireless payment option at the check-in desk.
“I requested them to bring the wireless payment machine to the check-in counter like all the other airlines do. They refused,” Kej noted, naming the employees involved in the situation. After walking to the designated counter, he was met with rudeness from an employee named Sunil, who dismissed him and suggested he wait or go to another far-off counter.
When Kej returned to the check-in counter, the staff eventually made a call to Sunil, instructing him to accept the payment. However, when Kej offered to pay via UPI—his only payment method—Sunil flatly rejected it, calling UPI “useless” and stating that Air India does not accept it. Kej was frustrated by this lack of flexibility, especially given the prevalence of UPI transactions in India.
“They offered to cancel my ticket instead, refusing to provide details on a refund,” he said, expressing his disappointment.
Flight Experience
Kej also shared a second incident that occurred on a Mumbai-San Francisco flight on September 20. He noticed a passenger repeatedly calling for service, only to be ignored by the flight attendants who were engaged in conversation among themselves.
During one of his walks around the cabin, Kej observed that the flight attendants did not respond to the service call, despite the blue light indicating a request for assistance. Instead, one attendant casually turned off the light while continuing her discussion.
Appalled by this behavior, Kej finally intervened after the light was activated for the third time, pointing out to the flight attendant that she needed to check on the passenger. The attendant’s dismissive attitude and lack of professionalism, along with another attendant being out of uniform, highlighted what he termed a “systemic issue” with Air India’s service culture.
Air India’s Response
In response to Kej’s complaints, an Air India spokesperson acknowledged the issues raised. “We take this feedback seriously and will take corrective steps where necessary to ensure such incidents do not happen again,” they stated. The airline emphasized that these isolated incidents do not reflect the overall commitment of its staff to service excellence.
Kej concluded his posts by acknowledging that while he may face criticism for flying with Air India, he believes in giving the airline chances to improve. He remains hopeful that through constructive criticism, the airline will enhance its services.
This situation underscores the ongoing challenges in customer service within the airline industry, as both passengers and airlines navigate expectations and experiences.
