Flyer shares bizarre experience of missing seat on IndiGo's Pune-Nagpur flight

A Nagpur resident, Sagarika Patnaik, had an unusual experience while travelling on an IndiGo flight from Pune to Nagpur. Instead of finding her seat intact, she discovered that half of her seat was missing.

Sagarika, who was traveling for work on flight 6E-6798 in the early hours of Sunday, was allocated seat number 10A by the airline. Upon reaching her seat, Sagarika was shocked to find the cushion missing. She immediately informed one of the cabin crew members, who simply advised her to check beneath the seat.

Despite her efforts, Sagarika was unable to locate the cushion. As a result, she had to stand in the aisle, causing inconvenience to other passengers while boarding was still in progress. Eventually, a crew member provided a spare cushion from another seat.


Sagarika and her husband, Subrat Patnaik, expressed their disappointment, stating that such incidents should not be expected from a reputed airline like IndiGo.

According to Times of India, sources within IndiGo said the original cushion was removed due to dirtiness and replaced with a spare cushion to maintain hygiene standards. In response to Subrat's complaint on social media, the airline explained that sometimes seat cushions can become loose from their Velcro attachments, but they can be repositioned with the assistance of the cabin crew.

The airline assured Subrat that his feedback would be shared with the relevant team for review, emphasizing their commitment to improving their service. Subrat questioned the airline's cleaning procedures, wondering why the missing cushion was not noticed during the pre-boarding check conducted by the cleaning crew or by the cabin crew, who are the first to enter the aircraft. Kanishka Gupta, a frequent flyer, shared his own experience of encountering similar carelessness on flights, including malfunctioning screens and improperly stored life jackets.

Aviation analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar called such incidents unacceptable, highlighting that airlines are not supposed to offer broken or non-functional seats to passengers. He urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take strict action against airlines that fail to comply with safety regulations.