Passenger outraged after airline serves chicken instead of vegetarian meal on flight

Sign as much as Simon Calder’s free journey electronic mail for knowledgeable recommendation and money-saving reductions

Get Simon Calder’s Travel electronic mail

A passenger on an Air India flight has slammed the airline after it served her non-vegetarian meals – regardless of the packaging being labelled as meat-free.

Taking to X, previously often known as Twitter, Veera Jain shared pictures of the in-flight meal she was given on board the Calicut-Mumbai flight.

“On my Air India flight AI582, I was served a vegetarian meal with chicken pieces in it! I boarded the flight from Calicut airport. This was a flight that was supposed to take off at 18.40 but left the airport at 19.40,” Ms Jain wrote.

The submit quickly began gaining traction, with some customers elevating considerations in regards to the airline’s meals dealing with practices.

Air India additionally responded to the submit, with a consultant asking Ms Jain to contact them through direct message.

“Dear Ms. Jain, we request you delete the asked details from the open tweet (to avoid misuse) and share the same with us via DM…along with your PNR,” the airline account responded.

In one of the images taken by Ms Jain, the meal packaging reads “veg main meal” – however within the second picture, there’s chicken served with the rice dish.

Ms Jain stated she knowledgeable the cabin supervisor, including: “[the supervisor] apologised and knowledgeable me that there was a couple of criticism about the identical concern aside from me and my pal.

“However, after I knowledgeable the crew, there was no motion taken to tell different passengers having vegetarian meals.”

The AI582 flight Ms Jain was on had also been delayed by one hour.

“First the delay, then the non-veg in my vegetarian meal. This is highly disappointing and it has hurt my sentiments. I ask Air India to take strict action on its catering services and delays,” Ms Jain continued in her post.

Ending the post, Ms Jain issued a warning to other passengers and added: “Please check thoroughly what you consume on a flight. After two extremely delayed flights (Mum-Kozhikode on 4th Jan and return on 8th Jan) and non-veg served I have lost trust in all of the airline food now.”

The Independent has contacted Air India for comment.

According to the Pew Research Center, all of India’s most widely practised religions have dietary laws and traditions. Hindu texts often praise vegetarianism and some people who choose to practice the religion also avoid eating beef because cows are traditionally viewed as sacred. However, only 39 per cent of Indian adults describe themselves as “vegetarian”.

It’s not the first time dietary requirements have caused issues on a flight.

Last year, a business class passenger on a flight to Japan who ordered a vegan breakfast was left bemused once they have been introduced with a single banana and a pair of chopsticks.