KOLKATA: Air India issued an apology Monday following reports of cockroaches on Howl's international flights, urging the two to change seats to avoid pests, causing pain to passengers. The airline has announced that it will conduct a comprehensive investigation to identify the source and cause of the incident and implement measures to prevent it from recurring. This is the latest in a string of embarrassments over the past few months, when airlines had to face sanitation, service, maintenance and safety issues. Passengers who took off from San Francisco around 8am on Saturday encountered a “bug turbulence” around 8am on Saturday. The airline said two passengers affected by the presence of “several small cockroaches” have been moved to other seats.Carrier also said deep cleaning of the aircraft was carried out during a technical shutdown in Kolkata early on Monday for refueling. However, officials at Kolkata Airport disputed this, saying the plane landed at 12:33am on Monday and left at 2:30am, with passengers not arriving from the plane. “Despite regular fu steam efforts, insects can sometimes enter aircraft during ground operations,” Air India said in its statement. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our passengers,” the airline added.The incident gives another example of the cockroach problem on an Air India flight. On September 28, 2024, passengers reported cockroaches in food served on their flights in Delhi New York. Previously, on April 20, 2024, one Uddhavpodar took him to social media and posted a photo of a cockroach on the business class of flight AI 382 from Delhi to Singapore.The cockroach issue is not unique to Air India, and passengers have also complained about cockroaches on Indigo and Akasa Airlines flights. However, the frequency of complaints on AI flights, including delays, cancellations, and service and maintenance concerns, has increased pressure on airlines. Air India is already under scrutiny following the discovery of various safety violations in June's Dreamliner crash and the DGCA's audit.The San Franciscom Mumbai flight had previously experienced a left engine failure on June 17th, which forced the aircraft to ground. Passengers were housed on other Mumbai-bound flights.
