“The Worst First Class Cabin”: Indian-American CEO Calls Air India Flight A “Nightmare”

For all the flak Singapore Airlines gets with cost-cutting measures (paper service ware, anyone?) and terribly plated meals, at least their First Class offerings still get praised globally.

Apparently the same can’t be said about a passenger’s recent experience on Air India.

In a video online that has since gone viral, a passenger slammed the airline, calling his experience “the worst first-class cabin” and a “nightmare”.

Scroll down for more pictures.

Anip Patel, the CEO of CaPatel Investments, allegedly forked out “US$6.3K or 250K miles” for his one-way flight from Chicago to Delhi.

Giving his followers a look at his First Class seat, he said: “Look at how gross this is. There was hair in here, things moving in every compartment. Everything was ripped, ruined, or had mildew on it.”

“I understand regular wear and tear, but this was next level,” he ranted.

He also complained about the ‘warm’ towel provided at the start of the flight, saying that it was cold.

Anip even pointed out that “30 per cent of the food items on the extensive menu were unavailable”.

Even wanting to escape from the state of his seat was hindered by a faulty entertainment system which “did not work the entire 15 hours” according to Anip.

A flight attendant was seen trying to reset the entertainment screen to no avail.

Yikes! Calling this a nightmare, to us, is an understatement.

“I have heard negative things about Air India in the past, but I was hoping the recent changes under new management would improve the experience – unfortunately, that wasn’t the case,” said Anip.

Air India’s only saving grace according to Anip were the Ferragamo amenities set and the pajamas that were “pretty soft”.

Air India was bought over by the Tata Group in October 2021 after decades of state ownership. It is now led by CEO Campbell Wilson, who was recruited from Singapore’s low-cost-carrier Scoot in 2022.

Considering Air India is also a Star Alliance partner (which SQ is also a part of), we can’t imagine if this was a codeshare flight?

Netizens took to the comments in horror.

“This is First Class. I shudder thinking about the economy seats!” read a comment.

One was even seen poking fun at Anip saying, “Don’t complain when you could have chosen to fly with an airline with better reputation.”

Another also called out Anip for swiping all the amenities of the flight despite giving them such a bad review.

Though Anip didn’t make an official complaint with Air India, he said the airline reached out to him after seeing his video.

“They called me [today] and refunded my entire flight,” he later updated in the comments.

Umm… did Air India pay for the emotional damage he endured?