The faulty automatic recline feature of their business-class seats during a Singapore Airlines flight from Hyderabad to Australia caused discomfort for Ravi Gupta, a police chief from Telangana, and his wife. Despite paying a substantial amount for their seats, the couple was unable to recline their seats automatically. When they complained to the airline, they were offered frequent flyer miles as compensation but rejected it.
The couple then decided to take legal action against Singapore Airlines, accusing the carrier of treating them poorly and failing to provide the expected level of service for business-class passengers. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Telangana ruled in favor of the Indian couple and ordered Singapore Airlines to pay $2,400 for the mental and physical distress caused by the faulty seats.
In response to the incident, Singapore Airlines acknowledged the issue with the automatic recline function on their business-class seats and confirmed that only the manual recline feature was operational during that particular flight. The airline expressed regret for any inconvenience caused and explained that they faced challenges in reseating customers due to a full flight. Despite this mechanical problem, the crew offered assistance by manually reclining the seats when necessary. However, according to Mr. and Mrs. Gupta, this lack of automatic recline diminished their overall business-class experience onboard Singapore Airlines’ flight from Hyderabad to Australia.