Woman Orders Veg Meal, Served Chicken On Flight, Air India Responds

A woman who took an Air India flight recently slammed the airline for serving her non-vegetarian food. Veera Jain, a vegetarian, posted photos on X (formerly Twitter) of the food she was given on board the Calicut-Mumbai flight along with her PNR number and other details. The post soon started gaining traction on social media, with some users raising concerns about the airline’s food handling practices. Air India also responded to the woman, asking her to contact them via direct message (DM).

“On my Air India flight AI582, I was served a vegetarian meal with chicken pieces in it! I boarded the flight from Calicut airport. This was a flight that was supposed to take off at 18:40 PM but left the airport at 19:40 PM,” Ms Jain said in her post.

On my @airindia flight AI582, I was served a veg meal with chicken pieces in it! I boarded the flight from Calicut airport. This was a flight that was supposed to take off at 18:40PM but left the airport at 19:40PM.
Details-
AI582
PNR- 6NZK9R
Seats- 10E, 10F#AirIndia pic.twitter.com/LlyK6ywleB

— Veera Jain (@VeeraJain) January 9, 2024

The photos of the meal packet shared by Ms Jain clearly showed the word “veg meal” printed on the wrapper alongside pieces of chicken inside.

She further said on the social media platform, “When I informed the cabin supervisor (Sona), she apologized and informed me that there was more than one complaint about the same issue other than me and my friend. However, after I informed the crew, there was no action taken to inform other passengers having vegetarian meals.”

Veera Jain’s problems on her Air India Calicut-Mumbai flight went beyond the unwanted meal. The AI582, scheduled for a 6:40 pm departure, was delayed by an hour, jeopardising her friend’s connecting train to Ahmedabad. This missed connection, coupled with the chicken in her “veg” meal, ignited Ms Jain’s social media firestorm, in which she tagged regulatory bodies like DGCA and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, demanding accountability and action.

Responding to the complaint in the thread, Air India wrote in the comments section, “Dear Ms. Jain, we request you delete the asked details from the open tweet (to avoid misuse) and share the same with us via DM along with your PNR.

Ms Jain also mentioned the conversation she had with the Air India team via messaging on X and wrote, “For the issue raised, they have only given me apologies via DM. I don’t understand how it is not a realization for them that this is a case of hurting sentiments. Imagine not making the payment right when booking their flight and later just apologizing for it continuously.”