New Delhi: Budget airline IndiGo came under fire on Tuesday after a former Army officer claimed that he was "bumped off my paid seat" to make room for a retired bureaucrat and "party".
Taking to Twitter to narrate the incident, Major General (retired) Birender Dhanoa said he would take appropriate action against the airline, accusing it of succumbing to "VIP pressure".
"Indigo playing fast and loose with seat allocation under VIP pressure. They bumped me off my paid seat because some former bureaucrat and 'party' couldn't be anywhere except row 1. @IndiGo6E you will be hearing from me. Flight is 6E2091," Dhanoa said on Twitter.
He further said that the incident had led to IndiGo losing "any regard I may have had for you". Major General (retired) Dhanoa said he wasn't the only passenger to be "shifted" from his seat.
"I wasn't the only pax who found himself on a different seat, another gentleman next to me in the middle of the aircraft confirmed that he too was 'shifted' from row 1, which he'd paid for, to accommodate some 'aged' people," he tweeted.
Responding to his post, the airline apologised for the inconvenience and said no VIP/bureaucrat was travelling on this flight.
"We would like to inform you that there was no VIP/bureaucrat travelling on this flight. As verified and confirmed, there was a group of 4 elderly passengers with walking issue who had by mistake selected emergency row at the time of web check-in. As per the safety guidelines, only able bodied can sit on the emergency row therefore, our team had to change their seats," the airline said in a statement.
We also understand that the seat was changed post your consent and the seat charges have been refunded to you. Once again, we apologise for the inconvenience that this may have caused," the airline further said.