An Air India passenger claims to have found metal cutlery in his meal on a flight from Bangalore to San Francisco. Journalist Mathurs Paul took to social media to share his ordeal while on board Air India flight AI175 last week.
In his post, Paul said he had been enjoying his flight meal of roasted sweet potato and fig chaat when he felt a piece of metal in his mouth, which he investigated and found to be a metal blade.
“Air India food cuts like a knife. There was a blade-like metal piece hidden in my baked sweet potato and fig chaat. I only realised it after biting into the food for a few seconds. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Of course, the blame lies entirely with Air India’s catering services but this incident has tarnished my image of Air India,” he said, sharing a picture of a bowl with the metal blade visible next to the food.
Air India food cuts like a knife. A blade-like metal shard was hidden in my roasted sweet potato and fig chaat. I only noticed it after a few seconds of biting into the food. Luckily, no damage was done. Of course, Air India is to blame… pic.twitter.com/NNBN3ux28S
— Mathures Paul (@MathuresP) June 10, 2024
Paul wondered what would have happened if this meal had been served to a child, highlighting the serious consequences of the mistake: “What would have happened if there had been a piece of metal in the food served to my child? The first photo is the piece of metal I spat out and the second photo is the food before metal came into my life,” he added.
Following the incident, Air India contacted the passenger, offering him a one-way business class ticket on any Air India flight for up to a year, but Paul reportedly rejected the offer, calling it a “bribe”.
In its response, Air India claimed the blade was part of a vegetable chopping machine used by the caterer. “Air India can confirm that a foreign object was found in the food of a customer travelling on one of our flights. After investigation, it was determined that the blade came from a vegetable processing machine used at the caterer’s premises,” Rajesh Dogra, Air India’s chief customer experience officer, told news agency ANI.
Responding to Paul’s post on X, Air India said: “Dear Paul, We apologise for this incident. This does not reflect the level of service we wish to provide to our passengers. Please DM us your booking details along with your seat number. We will look into this matter and address it promptly.”