New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed airlines to conduct regular inspections of aircraft seats to ensure their serviceability during flights. The advisory aims to enhance passenger comfort and safety following concerns about deteriorating seat conditions on some airlines.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol confirmed this in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Monday, emphasizing that airlines are responsible for maintaining seat serviceability as per approved manuals, according to PTI.
In response, Air India has introduced a program to check seat cushions for sagging every seven days.
The directive follows a recent incident involving Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was assigned a “broken and sunk” seat on an Air India flight from Bhopal to Delhi. He criticized the airline on social media, questioning whether charging full fare for defective seating amounted to cheating passengers.
Air India later apologized and assured corrective measures, stating, “This does not reflect the standard of Air India. We sincerely regret the inconvenience and are taking necessary action to prevent such occurrences.”
Mohol also stated that the civil aviation ministry does not maintain data on broken or non-functional seats replaced by airlines. “Whenever a defect is observed during the flight, the cabin crew records it in the cabin defect register. The non-functional seat must be repaired before being allotted to a passenger,” he said.
The DGCA has further advised airlines not to book passengers beyond the number of available serviceable seats. Any non-compliance will be taken seriously, with potential enforcement actions against violators.
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