An Indian couple, Ravi Gupta and Anjali, received over Rs 2 lakh ($2,000) compensation from Singapore Airlines (SIA) for business class seat malfunction. The couple complained of having to manually recline the seats instead of an automated recline, New York Post reported.
Court ordered the airline to provide compensation for "mental agony and physical suffering" caused to the couple during a five-hour flight from Hyderabad to Singapore in May last year.
Gupta, a Director General of Police, was en route to Australia and had a layover at Singapore. The couple went on about their issue on the layover and said that they would approach the case legally, NYPost reported.
Upon complaining, the couple received an offer of 10,000 reward points but they declined the offer and sued the company instead.
In a statement to the Independent, SIA gave confirmation of the faulty reclining ability and also clarified how vigilant the crew was in catering to the couple.
"The flight duration from Hyderabad to Singapore is typically around four hours. As it was a full flight, SIA staff, unfortunately, could not reseat the customers elsewhere in the Business Class cabin. Our crew proactively checked in on these customers regularly and offered to manually recline the seat when needed. We apologise to Mr and Mrs Gupta for the inconvenience caused by this mechanical issue", they said.
The couple paid Rs 66,750 ($800) per ticket and were awarded $2,400 in court in April this year.
Published 01 May 2024, 14:18 IST