'We are working to prevent any recurrence...': Air India admits mistake after flyer finds metal blade in on-flight meal

Air India is facing fresh scrutiny after a passenger found a metal blade in their in-flight meal. After the incident came to light, the airline acknowledged the incident. Rajesh Dogra, Chief Customer Experience Officer, confirmed that "a foreign object was found in the meal of a guest." Their investigation traced the source to "the vegetable processing machine used at the facilities of our catering partner."

Dogra further stated that Air India is "working with our catering partner to strengthen measures to prevent any recurrence." This includes "more frequent checking of the processor especially after chopping of any hard vegetable."

The passenger who was traveling on flight no 175 from Bengaluru to Bangkok, discovered the blade while eating fig chaat on the Air India flight. This discovery prompted them to alert the cabin crew and file a complaint.

"Air India food can cut like a knife. Hiding in its roasted sweet potato and fig chaat was a metal piece that looked like a blade. I got a feel of it only after chewing the grub for a few seconds. Thankfully, no harm was done. Of course, the blame squarely lies with Air India’s catering service but the incident doesn’t help the image I have of Air India. What if the metal piece was in the food served to a child? First picture shows the metal piece that I spat out and the second picture shows the meal before it put metal into my life. @airindia," Mathures Paul wrote on X.

The unhappy passenger claimed that Air India offered him a "free business class trip to anywhere in the world" as compensation a few days later. However, he turned it down, calling it a bribe. "I don't accept it," he said.

Dogra did not address Paul's claim that Air India offered a free business class flight as compensation.