Singapore Airlines pays dissatisfied passengers over $3000 for faulty business-class seats

A couple who suffered the "mental agony" of business-class seats that would not recline automatically have won a payout from Singapore Airlines. Photo / Getty Images

The anguish of “malfunctioning” seats in business class results in a big payout for unhappy couple.

In a tale that blends luxury and legal battles, a high-ranking Indian police officer and his wife won over US$2000 from Singapore Airlines after suffering “mental agony” when their business-class seats didn’t recline.

Ravi Gupta, a director-general of police, and his wife Anjali were travelling from Hyderabad to Singapore on their way to Perth, Australia when they encountered an unpleasant issue with their business-class seats.

Despite paying about US$1400 (INR66,750) for each of their seats, the promised automatic recliningfunction did not work, leaving them in “mental agony” and feeling like “economy-class passengers” on their nearly five-hour Singapore Airlines flight.

While the airline confirmed the issue with the seats, they were unable to reseat the couple due to the flight being fully booked. Instead, the crew offered to manually recline the seats for them throughout the journey.

Generally, Singapore Airlines has one of the best business-class seats.

A spokesperson said, “SIA can confirm that while the automatic recline function on Mr and Mrs Gupta’s seats was faulty, the manual recline function was working on their flight from Hyderabad to Singapore.”

“Our crew proactively checked in on these customers regularly and offered to manually recline the seat when needed,” the spokesperson added.

The Guptas took the matter to court after declining the initial offer of 10,000 frequent flyer miles per passenger.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Hyderabad ruled in favour of the Guptas and Singapore Airlines was ordered to refund $960 (INR48,750) to each complainant, totaling $1960 with 12 per cent interest. Additionally, the airline was directed to pay $2010 for the mental and physical distress caused to the Guptas, along with $200 to cover their expenses.

In the spirit of great hospitality, Singapore Airlines easily accepted the ruling, and a spokesperson has apologised regarding the matter.

“We apologise to Mr. and Mrs. Gupta for the inconvenience caused by this mechanical issue,” they said.