Cockroaches, broken seats! UN diplomat shares his Air India flight experience

A United Nations diplomat has taken to Twitter to post images of cockroaches on board an Air India flight from New York's JFK airport to Delhi in what he called his "worst flight experience."

"As a UN diplomat, I've flown worldwide, but Air India 102 JFK to Delhi was my worst flight experience: broken seats, no entertainment/call buttons/reading lights, cockroaches! Poison spray. disregard for customer care," the diplomat wrote on Twitter.

"Any thoughts and comments on how Air India flights from NY are infested with cockroaches and has non-operational standard Onboard safety equipment?" the diplomat posted in another tweet.


Air India replied to his post regretting his flight experience. "Dear Sir, we sincerely regret the experience you have had with us. This is not something good to hear. Please help us with your booking details via DM for us to highlight the same to the relevant team for necessary review," the airline said.


In the same Twitter threat, another user @anandtandonAT posted: "Most likely passengers bring cockroaches from their homes in their carry on bags. What can Air India do about this? How can Air India prevent this?"

India’s largest conglomerate Tata bought Air India for Rs 18,000 crore from the government in 2021 in a high profile privatization under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that ended decades of attempts to sell the money-losing, debt-laden carrier, which had been kept alive on years of taxpayer bailouts.

Air India is preparing to integrate Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Tata Group, to form a single, full-service carrier. The airline is spending $400 million to upgrade its widebody planes, replacing all seats and in-flight entertainment systems with new products.

In the biggest deal in recent years, Air India has placed an order of 470 aircraft from both Boeing Co. and Airbus SE, with deliveries due to start from the end of this year.

In an interview with a television channel, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has promised a "brand new" Air India by end of 2024.