'Unfounded': Air India responds to Lisa Ray's 'no empathy' charges

Ray has slammed Air India for denying her a refund on medical grounds for a ticket that she had cancelled, media reports said.

Lisa claimed she had to cancel the ticket owing to her 92-year-old father's ailment.

She wrote on X, "Here we go again @airindia. My father is 92, unwell and I have to cancel travel due to his ailing condition. Submitted doctors letter and the waiver was denied? How is that possible? Where is the empathy from an airline that is claiming to care about passengers???"

She alleged the airline denied the waiver despite her submitting documents from the attending doctor.

While Air India responded to her post, the airline gave a longer statement later explaining the matter.

"While fully empathising with the passenger, we would like to put forth the following clarifications: the claim that Air India did not display empathy for her unwell father is unfounded, as the passenger herself mentioned that she is booked to fly Air India along with two other co-passengers that does not include her father, whose medical documents she has submitted," Air India said.

"The passenger had purchased the ticket from a travel agent and had first reached out to the travel agent, and not to Air India. After the passenger raised the matter to Air India, the Air India team reached out to her and, as an exception, offered solutions that included a free date change or a one-year period to utilise the tickets for future travel. She declined the offer and requested for a full refund of her ticket, instead," the airline said.

Air India requested the media "to restrain itself from maligning the reputation of the airline without corroborating facts."

The airline said it flies millions of passengers and "such misleading news reports belie the airline's resolve to customer centricity and empathy."