Supriya Sule Slams Air India Over 'Continuous Trend Of Delays', Urges Civil Aviation Minister To Take Action

Supriya Sule urged Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to enforce stricter regulations to hold Air India accountable for repeated delays, which she said were 'unacceptable'.

Supriya Sule blasted Air India over repeated delays and urged Civil Aviation Minister to take action against the airline.

Source : PTI

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule on Saturday blasted Air India over "endless" delays, which she said were "unacceptable" especially when "premium fares" were charged.

Criticising the airline's "continuous trend of delays," she tagged Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu in her post on X, urging that he take action against the airline and hold it accountable for the repeated delays.

"I was travelling on Air India flight AI0508, which was delayed by 1 hour and 19 minutes — part of a continuous trend of delays affecting passengers. This is unacceptable. Urging Hon’ble Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to enforce stricter regulations to hold airlines like Air India accountable for repeated delays and ensure better service standards for passengers," Sule said in a post on X.

"We pay premium fares, yet flights are never on time. Professionals, children, and senior citizens — all affected by this constant mismanagement," she added.

I was travelling on Air India flight AI0508, which was delayed by 1 hour and 19 minutes — part of a continuous trend of delays affecting passengers. This is unacceptable.

Urging Hon’ble Civil Aviation Minister @RamMNK to enforce stricter regulations to hold airlines like… https://t.co/ydqw9NJzcR

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) March 21, 2025

In another post she wrote: "Air India flights are endlessly delayed — this is unacceptable! We pay premium fares, yet flights are never on time. Professionals, children, and senior citizens — all affected by this constant mismanagement. Urging the Civil Aviation Minister to take action and hold Air India accountable."

Air India Responds

Air India reacted to the post shared by the NCP-SP leader on X and informed her that the hour-long delay in her flight to Mumbai was caused by an issue that was outside the control of the airline.

"Dear Ma'am, we recognize that delays can be very frustrating. However, there are occasional operational issues outside of our control that can affect flight schedules. Your flight to Mumbai this evening was delayed by one hour due to such an issue. We appreciate your understanding," the airline said.

Previous Instances When Air India Received Flak

In February, BJP’s spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill criticised Air India over its poor service and "pathetic" on-ground support staff. This came after Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, too, blasted the airline after he was allotted a broken seat during his flight from Bhopal to New Delhi. He had said that such an unpleasant experience is equivalent to cheating the passengers.

Chouhan had pre-booked seat number 8C but shared that he was shocked to discover that the seat was "broken and sunken". He said that when he questioned the staff regarding the seat, they admitted that the airline management had already been alerted about the issue.