Comedian and actor Vir Das recently took to social media to share a frustrating experience he had while flying with Air India, despite being a long-time supporter of the airline. Das and his wife were traveling to Delhi, and had booked special assistance including a wheelchair and the Pranaam service, as his wife is recovering from a foot fracture.
However, things didn’t go as expected. According to Das, they had paid Rs 50,000 per seat, but the flight had several issues. The tray table was broken, the leg rests weren’t working, and his wife’s seat was stuck in a reclined position and couldn’t be adjusted properly. To make it worse, the flight, which was described as “newly refurbished,” was delayed by two hours.
When they finally landed in Delhi, they were informed they would need to exit using a stepladder. Das asked the cabin crew for help with his wife while he managed their luggage, but said he received no response and only confused looks. At the aircraft door, he asked a male ground staff member for help, but was met with the response, “sir kya Karein…sorry”.
Once inside the terminal, the situation didn’t improve. The service staff informed the wheelchair staff that it was pre-booked by Das, but the person handling the wheelchairs seemed unaware. Das said that even though there were plenty of wheelchairs around, no staff was available, likely due to the delay. Das ended up pushing the wheelchair himself through the terminal, to baggage claim, and then out to the parking area.
Das further said that despite of notifying the airline through Encalm about the issues, no one from Air India responded or followed up. In a humorous but pointed sign-off, Das mentioned that one of Air India’s wheelchairs is now left on the second floor of the parking lot in Delhi — and they’re welcome to come and claim it.
While he praised the cabin crew as some of the nicest in the sky, Das expressed his disappointment in the poor coordination and lack of support from the ground staff during the journey.
Air India responded to Das’ social media post with a standard response saying, “we understand and empathize with the experience. Please share us the booking details via DM for us to look into this on priority.” Das gave the flight number AI816 and wrote, “Get your wheelchair bro”.
Air India’s Response: ‘Delay due to high demand of wheelchairs, not denial’
Responding to the statement, Air India spokesperson said that they took note of Das’ social media post about the wheelchair not being provided to his co-passenger (wife) while travelling from Mumbai to Delhi on AI816 on 14 April 2025. The statement read, “We empathize with the guests, especially given the mobility concern involved, and recognize that this experience fell short of expectations. The operating cabin crew offered to assist the guest, including deplaning by using the ‘ambulift’ assigned to the aircraft as per SOP, but the delay—not denial—in providing wheelchair assistance was due to unusually high demand for wheelchairs and staff at that time. Air India remains committed to improving the end-to-end travel experience for all its guests.”