Air India charging thrice the normal fare from senior citizens booking online

The Narendra Modi-led central government has on several occasions chest-thumped about having changed the fortunes of Air India and Air India Express. Only recently it announced that Air India had made a profit after long. However, it turns out, some part of this profit would have been made by charging senior citizens booking tickets online as much as three times the normal adult airfare across sectors in India.

Thousands of people above the age of 60 years – pensioners, retired people, armed forces personnel and others – use Air India every month. The government-run airline seems to have charged these people at much higher rates than usual, even as they are entitled to concessionary airfare. What is more disturbing is the fact that most of these elderly people would have booked these ‘exorbitantly priced concessionary tickets’ unsuspectingly.

Particularly hit have been the elderly people travelling long distances. Many senior citizens who have to spend 36 hours or more to travel by trains usually go for Air India’s concessionary fares to avoid the discomfort of travelling by rail for long distances.

A senior citizen wanting to avail of a concession for flying from Delhi to Chennai on December 12 this year, for example, was offered a “concessionary fare” of Rs 11,053. A normal ticket on the same day for the same flight was priced at Rs 3,647. In effect, the “concessionary fare” for a senior citizen comes to more than three times the normal airfare.

Bookings made for travel two months from now aren’t spared, either. For instance, five routes for travel on January 28, 2017, show similar discrepancies. For flying from Delhi to Kolkata, a senior citizen is asked to pay Rs 10,261, even as a normal ticket on the same route and flight is priced at Rs 3,630.

The story for Delhi-Mumbai flights is hardly different. Air India operates 14 flights between these cities. The normal fare for a flight on this route is Rs 2,782. But if a senior citizen books the ticket under “concessionary” fare, Air India prices the ticket at Rs 9,991, almost four times the cost of a normal ticket.

Similarly, a normal ticket for a Mumbai-Bengaluru flight on the same day is priced at Rs 2,144. A senior citizen booking on a concession is, however, asked to pay Rs 7,455. A senior citizen flying from Mumbai to Chennai on January 28, 2017, likewise, has to pay Rs 8,705 for a concessionary ticket, compared with the price of Rs 2,780 for a normal ticket on the same route on the same day.

When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said: “Not many senior citizens avail of concessionary airfare. Senior citizens always plan their journey in advance and don’t fly on an urgent basis. So, the normal fares for them are lower.”

However, a look at the airfares of Air India shows that even if senior citizens need to fly urgently, Air India doesn’t give them a concession on normal fares. For instance, the normal cost of a ticket on a Delhi-Mumbai flight for November 19 (Saturday) is Rs 6,112. When booked under a senior citizen concession, the same ticket costs Rs 9,991, which is 50% more than normal.

For a senior citizen booking a ticket urgently under the concession, this fact would inevitably escape their attention. It also suggests that Air India has virtually eliminated concessions to senior citizens. The airline’s spokesperson, however, said: “It is wrong to say we don’t have a concession.” He sought to know of a senior citizen who used the facility: “Show me any senior citizen who uses the concession.”

An email was also sent to the Air India management seeking details of the number of senior citizens who booked under the concession category on a higher fare without realising that the normal fares were lower. The email had not been unanswered till the time of going to press.