Air India was privatized several years ago, and we know that under new management, the company is trying to turn itself around and actually offer a competitive product. Understandably, that’s not an overnight process, especially with the current reality of new aircraft deliveries and issues with aircraft seats.
I think what’s most disappointing in Air India’s “transformation” is how poor of a job the company is doing with maintaining its old aircraft. Here’s the latest example of that (thanks to Rahul for flagging this).
In this post:
Air India demands no objections to broken seats
On September 12, 2025, a Reddit user flew AI187, the 19-hour Air India flight from Delhi (DEL) to Toronto (YYZ), which has a refueling stop in Vienna (VIE). Prior to the flight, Air India reportedly asked some passengers to sign a declaration confirming that tray tables are broken in business class, and that passengers have no objections to that.
As the traveler concludes, “pretty frustrating to pay business class fares and then be expected to eat with the food plate on your lap.” Here is the memo, which is quite something:
Dear Sir/Ma’am,
Greetings from Air India!
We sincerely regret that owing to an unforeseen operational issue you are being accommodated on a seat which is not up to the standards of comfort we wish to provide. We sincerely regret that your seat has a minor issue (Description of issue): Tray Table, which we have not been able to rectify prior to the departure of the flight. [Flight Number] from [Departure City] to [Destination City].
Please be assured that this does not compromise your safety in any respect during the journey. All materials used in our aircraft, including the seats, conform to approved design specifications. They meet the intended design and airworthiness requirements as mandated by regulatory authorities, ensuring your safety.
Please reach out to us directly by logging your request at our portal www.airindia.com under the section Support–Contact Us–Need Help–Feedback or scan the QR code provided below.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may be caused and appreciate your understanding. Your trust in Air India is invaluable to us, and we remain committed to providing you with a safe and pleasant travel experience.
Passenger Acknowledgement
I (Pax Name) hereby confirm that I have been informed about the seat issue and have no objection to the assignment of the seat.
This waiver letter isn’t a good look for Air India
Occasionally parts of airplane seats break. The issue is that for Air India’s Boeing 777 fleet, this seems to be the norm rather than the exception. For example, just recently I covered how a first class passenger on this exact route was on a flight where the cabin was falling apart, there were bugs in the bedding, and more.
The whole premise of this broken seat waiver form is so ridiculous, from the tone, to the actual content. “Greetings from Air India!” That sounds like a very positive tone for a message that’s about to tell you that you’re going to be eating food on your lap in business class. It’s also so unprofessional how they don’t even write it out correctly, just leaving the form as saying “[Flight Number] from [Departure City] to [Destination City].”
But the most ridiculous part is what passengers are told to sign — passengers have to sign that they “have no objection to the assignment of the seat.” Like, who wouldn’t object to being assigned a broken seat? As you can see, the passenger didn’t sign this letter, but instead wrote the following:
I have objection. This is a 19hr flight with no proper tray table. It’s frustrating.
If Air India’s goal is to get people to acknowledge that they were made aware in advance of a broken seat, then the form should simply ask passengers to confirm that they were made aware of the situation, rather than forcing them to not object to having a broken seat.
For me, the greatest mystery is why Air India can’t do a better job with maintaining its tired 777 cabins. I do genuinely believe that Air India management wants to turn the airline around and make it world class. And I also believe management knows the horrible state these planes are in.
When you have cabins in such consistently poor condition, that’s not something that’s beyond a carrier’s control. I know Air India is working on refreshing the interiors a bit before the planes actually get all-new cabins. But why can’t the airline just perform basic maintenance so that there aren’t consistent problems?
Is it a budget issue? Does Air India just have so many tasks that it can’t bring itself to prioritize this in any way? Or what other explanation is there?
Bottom line
Air India seems to have such consistent issues with cabin maintenance that the airline has a generic broken seat waiver that it asks passengers to sign. In theory there’s nothing wrong with asking passengers to confirm that they were made aware of a broken seat. But what’s ridiculous is that the letter asks passengers to state they “have no objection to the assignment of the seat.” Who wouldn’t object to a broken seat?!?
What do you make of this Air India broken seat waiver letter?
The sad thing is, this is kinda an opportunity lost.
As a passenger I would rather know that an element of my business class seat is not functional BEFORE boarding - which with many airlines is not the case. You get on and then when the door is about to close discover that your tray table or IFE doesn't work. So kudos to AI for that.
If only this 'waiver' went on to say something...
The sad thing is, this is kinda an opportunity lost.
As a passenger I would rather know that an element of my business class seat is not functional BEFORE boarding - which with many airlines is not the case. You get on and then when the door is about to close discover that your tray table or IFE doesn't work. So kudos to AI for that.
If only this 'waiver' went on to say something along the lines of 'as a gesture of goodwill we would like to offer you X, Y or Z.
I mean in fairness, the waiver does not ask the passenger to confirm they will not ask for some kind of service recovery - in fact it actually says to reach out to the company. The only thing that the passenger is 'signing for' is to say that they have been made aware of the issue and are happy to still travel. Which I guess stops the issue of 'I would have never got on the plane if I knew the tray table wasn't working' kind of claims.
Scammers, just like the vast majority of people there.
I have had bad experience with AI business class 2 times in a row now (i flew only because it was shortest, direct flight).
Tata is in a bind. Cannot stop flying broken planes as otherwise they may lose lucrative slots (which i would argue are most of AIs market value). And cannot continue like this without destroying brand value over the medium term. They should at least expand maintenance operations.
Most importantly,...
I have had bad experience with AI business class 2 times in a row now (i flew only because it was shortest, direct flight).
Tata is in a bind. Cannot stop flying broken planes as otherwise they may lose lucrative slots (which i would argue are most of AIs market value). And cannot continue like this without destroying brand value over the medium term. They should at least expand maintenance operations.
Most importantly, I understand parts are in short supply, but then don't sell those seats! Just block them off. A bit of missed revenue is better than reputational loss. Mind bogglingly poor management.
I have tons of Indian friends living in the US. Not a single one flies Air India when visiting family in India. ZERO!!
Air India, just one place lower in the World Rankings than American this year. They are six places up on last year while American dropped down a place …. interesting statistics, yes?
Whose rankings?
Why, the World Rankings Willy, as it says in my post, yes?
You still think that SkyTrax rankings hold any truths, let alone validity?
It's the customer's fault for choosing to fly with Air India. They are fully aware that Air India is a crumbling airline and chose to fly with such an airline.
It's the customer's fault for choosing to fly with Air India.
I love the smell of victim-blaming in the morning.
Definitely not ideal, but what is the customer expecting as far as compensation? Length of the flight definitely plays a part but I don't see any airline offering up $500-$1000 for this.
I think $500 at least. A better meal experience and productivity are, after the comfort of the seat itself, two of the main reasons people fly business class. A tray table is kind of crucial to those aspects of the experience.
Vistara, a pleasant Tata run airline, merged with Air India, a behemoth poisoned by decades of bureaucracy and babu-dom. Cleaning out the mess will cause collateral mess.
If you want cleanliness and well maintained interiors, don't fly Air India long haul. If you want attention and YouTube fodder, definitely do fly Air India.
At least they gave them notice prior to departure of what to expect. I got on a BA 777 out of LHR in F a few years ago with “Not in Use” taped across the IFE screen. I had hours on my connection in the CCR with no attempt by BA to let me know so I could download movies on my iPad or something. The acknowledgment part of the Air India form is idiotic. The passenger didn’t sign it but still travelled. Why ask for a waiver if you’re not going to enforce it?
The Boy Scouts motto used to be “Be Prepared” when I was a lad.
Any self respecting iPad owner would know to download emergency content before leaving home. After all, one could be stuck in an airport, etc, for hours without ‘entertainment’, yes?
From what I’ve understood is that this is because of a lack of spare parts available due to these seats being ancient and out of production for so long. I remember having read somewhere that AI had to resort to 3D printing some parts.
Also - the Tatas never got control of the engineering arm of the airline which is still government controlled, and have started setting up their own capabilities from scratch at...
From what I’ve understood is that this is because of a lack of spare parts available due to these seats being ancient and out of production for so long. I remember having read somewhere that AI had to resort to 3D printing some parts.
Also - the Tatas never got control of the engineering arm of the airline which is still government controlled, and have started setting up their own capabilities from scratch at BLR. Apparently the existing AIESL (engineering division) still uses excel to record data points where others have moved to software ages ago (basically showing how old their systems really are).
They use excel... This is so interesting given that a sizeable majority of computer engineers in the USA, at least around DC are Indian subcontractors supplied by TATA, and many Western companies have outsourced ops to Indian companies run by TATA and its like. Would have thought they would be using the latest of technologies.
He means the original engineering department, run by the government, that they use while they scale up their own capabilities.
It starts making sense when you realize these co's (WITCH companies) are purely for MBAs to minimize short term operational costs with the cheapest sloppy work available.
Never a boring day with Air India. This is why Gulf airlines & SQ will continue to win hearts for passengers with extra spending room
I prefer nonstops, where possible. Like for the NYC-DEL routes, United and American at least offer those 16 hour flights (without having to take Air India). Interesting that Delta has given up on that. @Tim Dunn, c'mon, they should bring back JFK-BOM with the a359.
Otherwise, if you want to go somewhere more specific, say, Kerala, then, yes, absolutely, QR, EK, EY sounds nice; if not them, maybe some European carriers, but unfortunately, if...
I prefer nonstops, where possible. Like for the NYC-DEL routes, United and American at least offer those 16 hour flights (without having to take Air India). Interesting that Delta has given up on that. @Tim Dunn, c'mon, they should bring back JFK-BOM with the a359.
Otherwise, if you want to go somewhere more specific, say, Kerala, then, yes, absolutely, QR, EK, EY sounds nice; if not them, maybe some European carriers, but unfortunately, if originating in the USA, EU261 protections do not apply because origin and destination are technically outside of coverage (lame, I agree). Finally, SQ is a bit outta the way, and takes longer.
"@Tim Dunn, c'mon, they should bring back JFK-BOM with the a359."
Honestly, it would have been more productive to stand in front of a mirror and say "Candyman" five times. Invoking the person you invoked can only lead to sadness.
Back on topic, I would absolutely take SQ with a stop in SIN than an AI nonstop anywhere. I have an upcoming flight KUL-DEL, and while AI was by far the cheapest, there was still...
"@Tim Dunn, c'mon, they should bring back JFK-BOM with the a359."
Honestly, it would have been more productive to stand in front of a mirror and say "Candyman" five times. Invoking the person you invoked can only lead to sadness.
Back on topic, I would absolutely take SQ with a stop in SIN than an AI nonstop anywhere. I have an upcoming flight KUL-DEL, and while AI was by far the cheapest, there was still the issue with crappy times and crappy planes. This was before they introduced the bedbugs feature. I'll be on MH for that segment.
And that's just one of the reasons to not fly Air India.
Complete shambles of an airline. Yes, progress takes time, but they’ve really shown 0 progress in this period of “transformation”.
Air- India - NEVER EVER
Sounds like 'under duress' to me.
Yes but Air India business class fares are substantially lower then other carriers so why do customers expect so much from possibly one of the worse airlines in the world.Just do not fly with them.The safety record,customer service and maintenance of aircraft is so poor they should be banned from flying to many countries instead of people continuing to fly with them and moaning all the time.I am sure you will find out when you...
Yes but Air India business class fares are substantially lower then other carriers so why do customers expect so much from possibly one of the worse airlines in the world.Just do not fly with them.The safety record,customer service and maintenance of aircraft is so poor they should be banned from flying to many countries instead of people continuing to fly with them and moaning all the time.I am sure you will find out when you fly with them that there has been improvement in many years.
@ Julian Zentner -- "Why do customers expect so much." Is a functioning tray table at a business class seat really considered "so much?"
@Ben
I agree with you. A functioning tray table is a basic thing at every seat from tip to tail regardless of the class of travel (first class to economy class) and it is not "so much". Shame on Air India.
I just flew on Allegiant for the first time last week (surprisingly not bad once I paid the extra $100 or so to be treated like a human being) and they even managed to have functioning (albeit small) tray tables.