Air India Passengers Say Forced to Fly on Broken Seats, No Seatbelts

Air India allegedly forced passengers, including minors, to fly on a Delhi-Toronto flight with broken seats and no seatbelts. Passengers claim coercion and safety violations, prompting complaints to aviation authorities.

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"Rope in Place of Seatbelt on Air India Flight"

"Air India authorities forced me and my minor children to travel on an international flight without a seatbelt. Many of their seats were not operational and when I asked them how can we travel on a long flight with non-operational seats and seatbelts they literally threatened us. They asked us to either travel or just get off the flight," stated Sugandha.

Sugandha Mehta and her husband Gaurav Virmani have alleged that Air India operated an international flight with numerous broken seats lacking functional seatbelts and coerced passengers into signing an undertaking to travel on the same flight while seated in faulty seats. The couple was travelling on Air India flight AI 189 from New Delhi to Toronto on March 27, 2025, along with their two daughters, aged four and ten, when the incident occurred.

Sugandha had booked four business class tickets for her family. However, at the check-in counter, she was informed that one of the assigned seats was non-operational and the seatbelt was not functional. "This is so shocking. Probably one of the worst travel experiences of our lives," said Sugandha.

"After a lot of pleading, they finally agreed to provide operational seats but asked us to sit separately. My minor daughters, my husband, and I were to be seated in different parts of the aircraft. However, this time, instead of rectifying the error, they gave us more seats that were not working. Two of the four seats were non-operational. The seatbelts were zip-tied together, and a sticker on the seat read ‘Do not use. Seat out of service’. The flight was also delayed for about three hours," she added.