Former ICMR Chief Soumya Swaminathan.
Former Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) chief Soumya Swaminathan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and slammed Air India after her “terrible experience” with the airline.
The 65-year-old said that despite being a loyal flyer and a member of the airline’s Maharaja Club, she hit a “dead end” trying to upgrade her seat on a flight from Nairobi to Delhi scheduled for tomorrow.
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A loyalty program, Maharaja Club, formerly known as Flying Returns, rewards frequent flyers with points redeemable for benefits like award flights, cabin upgrades, and priority services, both on Air India and its Star Alliance partner airlines.
“Terrible experience with @airindia – trying to upgrade with miles/payment for my Nairobi to Delhi flight tomorrow. Despite being a loyal member, enough mileage & hours online & on phone – dead end,” she wrote.
Swaminathan, a scientist known for her research on diseases like HIV and Tuberculousis, said that the airline provided “illogical” reasons. “Reasons given are illogical – why should the customer suffer your irrationality?” she asked.
Terrible experience with @airindia – trying to upgrade with miles/payment for my Nairobi to Delhi flight tomorrow. Despite being a loyal member, enough mileage & hours online & on phone – dead end. Reasons given are illogical – why should the customer suffer your irrationality?
— Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) April 8, 2025
Responding to her complaint, Air India said, “Dear Ma’am, we acknowledge your concern. Please share your booking details along with your Maharaja Club ID via DM. We will check and assist you.”
Dear Ma’am, we acknowledge your concern. Please share your booking details along with your Maharaja Club ID via DM. We will check and assist you.
— Air India (@airindia) April 8, 2025
Swaminathan thanked the airline and its social media for their “satisfactory resolution” to her problem. “I would like to thank @airindia, especially the social media team, for their proactive engagement and satisfactory resolution of my problem. I will continue to fly AI as much as possible,” she wrote.
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Meanwhile, several others shared their experience with Air India’s customer service. One netizen remarked, “Air India has a standard response and they don’t care. My family doesn’t want to travel on Air India anymore. After Tatas purchased it from the government of India, the airline has gone from bad to worse. Why blame Tatas? Indigo is similar in customer service.”
Another said, “Concur and the real joke with Air India is after all the inefficiencies, they’ll show up here on X asking for booking details and membership number in DMs, like they don’t know that already and as if that will fix anything.”
