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Journalism of Courage
An Indian-American passenger, Anip Patel, CEO of CaPatel Investments, recently took to Instagram to express his disappointment with Air India‘s business class service during a non-stop flight from New Delhi to Chicago. Describing his experience as a “nightmare,” Patel revealed that he paid $6,300 for what he considered the “worst first-class cabin” he had ever encountered.
In his video, Patel begins by inviting his viewers by saying, “Come with me on the worst first-class cabin I’ve ever been on.” He explains that his one-way flight cost $6,300, and then proceeds to highlight the various issues he faced during the journey.
“Look at how gross this is,” he says, pointing to the worn and damaged state of the cabin. “There were things moving in every compartment, everything was ripped, or had little wear on it. I understand regular wear and tear, but this was next level.”
Patel continues to detail his dissatisfaction, showing a cold towel that was supposed to be warm. “This was next level guys,” he says, referring to the cold towel. “They have collaborated with Ferragamo, which was decent, and there were pajamas that were pretty soft. But then there were the headphones—they came out tangled, and they had little wear on them.”
Watch the video:
His frustrations extended to the food service, which he claimed was poorly stocked. “This was the food menu. It looked very promising, but of course, 30 per cent of its items were not available. They only had one of each item. Four of us were in the entire cabin, and it was basically first come, first served,” he explained. Patel also noted that the flight attendants failed to provide basic service, like placing a tablecloth before serving the meal. “They didn’t even put a tablecloth over it. Then she forgot and came back with one.”
Patel’s complaints weren’t limited to food and seating. He was equally frustrated by the lack of in-flight entertainment during the 15-hour journey. “No entertainment. The entertainment system didn’t work for the entire 15 hours,” he said, adding, “Everything is broken; they literally put tape on the walls.”
Since being posted on Instagram by Patel, the video has amassed 3.1 million views and above 4 lakh likes. Many users also took to the comments section of the post to share their own experiences with everyone.
One user wrote, “Emirates or Etihad to India. Avoid every other airline!” Another user commented, “This is so embarrassing!!” A third user jokingly wrote, “But at least their cabin crew was wearing Manish Malhotra (with a laughing with tears emoji) this is so bad.”
