Mum and kids covered in bites after flying on 'infested' plane
Passengers on board at least two Air India flights have been left covered in bed bug bites from their travels.
Several business class customers took to Twitter to share damning photos of the conditions on the flights between the US airport of Newark and India’s Mumbai last week.
Passenger Kashmira Tonsekar said she discovered an infestation of bed bugs in her family’s seats when her daughter began complaining of a rash.
Her husband Pravin Tonsekar shared a series of images of bed bugs among their seats as they travelled home from a family holiday.
@airindiain @sureshpprabhu @narendramodi_in Suresh Prabhuji – just arrived from New York on Air India 144 business class with family . All our seats infested with bed bugs . Sir , have heard of bed bugs on trains but shocked to experience on our maharaja and that too business pic.twitter.com/m2GnfOpTO3
— Pravin Tonsekar (@pat_tons) July 17, 2018
“All our seats infested with bed bugs. Sir, [I] have heard of bed bugs on trains but shocked to experience on our maharaja and thats too business (sic),” he wrote.
Air India responded to his complaint saying they were “sorry to hear about this” and were sending the information onto their maintenance team to investigate.
Yet Mr Tonsekar was unimpressed with the response tweeting back saying: “This should never have happened in the first place!”
Another passenger, Saumya Shetty, followed up Mr Tonsekar’s complaint by uploading a photo of several large bites on her arm.
What an #airindia #businessclass would do to you? AI still has to get in touch with me inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them. @airindiain @NewYorkTimes11 @cnni pic.twitter.com/tDHfmhX0Vx
— Saumya Shetty (@saumshetty) July 20, 2018
“AI still has to get in touch with me,” she said after claiming to have contacted the airline several times without response.
Another passenger tweeted his furious response to spending $10,000 on tickets for his wife and three children to travel on July 19 with the Air India.
@airindiain my wife and three kids flex business class AI 144 from Newark to mumbai; now they have bed bug bites all over their body; is this is what we paid $10,000 for???
— Rohan (@roscrow) July 19, 2018
“They have bed bug bites all over their body; is this what we paid $10,000 for???” he questioned.
The airline again responded apologising for the incident.
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“We assure you that we will allow no one to jeopardise safety and comfort of pax,” they added.
An airline official confirmed to The Hindustan Times that two planes had been grounded for a day each to combat the issue.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed the plane had been fumigated and affected seats were replaced however failed to comment on any compensation passengers would receive.
