IAS officer accuses British Airways of racist policies after her seat was downgraded. Airline responds

An IAS officer from Mumbai has accused British Airways of racist policies and discriminatory practices after she was downgraded from her premium economy seat and not refunded the difference in fare. Ashwini Bhide, who is the head of the Mumbai Coastal Road project, narrated the experience on X and slammed the airline for what she called their "common practice".

"Are you cheating or following discriminatory/racist policies, British Airways? How come you downgrade a premium economy passenger at the check-in counter on the false pretext of overbooking without even paying the price difference and forget about compensation?" Bhide. "I’m told this is a common practice by British Airways in Mumbai."

Responding to her post, a representative of the airline wrote, "Hi there, if you've been downgraded due to overbooking, you're entitled to any difference in the fare paid. Our Customer Relations team will look into this and advise of any compensation due."

But soon, other X users began to share similar experiences.

"I was too downgraded from business class to crappy premium economy and am still awaiting the fare difference. I was flying from Mumbai to London, British Airways," wrote Reginald101 (@101reginald101). Another user Mahabir Urs (@mahabir_urs) commented, "I had faced the same problem several times. I filed a complaint with DGCA and no action was taken. Hence, I filed for online arbitration in London and was awarded compensation as well as a refund of the difference in fare. It is very simple to file for arbitration."