Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram expressed concern over Air India’s passenger services, stating that the transfer of the airline from the government to Tata Group ownership has failed to deliver improvements.

During a recent flight from Delhi to Chennai, Chidambaram shared his experience, describing how passengers leaving at the boarding gate were made to wait in the aerobridge for 15 minutes.

Underlining the disorder, he said in his post to X: “All passengers of flight AI 540 have been standing on the bridge for the last 15 minutes.”

The former finance minister stated that boarding began ten minutes after the scheduled departure time and that passengers’ actual departure time was unclear. The flight, which was scheduled for 20.45, was eventually postponed to 21.25, causing a 40-minute delay.

“I regret that practically no progress has been made since the management changed hands from the government to the private sector,” he said. “I can list many aspects of flying that can be improved by competent management. I think Air India lacks competent managers at different levels.”

Chidambaram’s observations come amid other recent criticism of Air India’s services. Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej shared his frustration after a long delay in check-in resulted in a half-hour round trip due to the airline’s refusal to accept UPI payments at certain counters. Similarly, a passenger on a Delhi-New York flight claimed to have found cockroaches in his in-flight meals, highlighting hygiene concerns.