He Flagged a Health Complaint About an Airport. They Actually Fixed It.

Chef Vikas Khanna had a severe asthma attack after landing at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, and he blamed the dusty carpet rolled out along the airport's walkways. On January 2, 2026, instead of letting it go, he posted about it on Instagram.

The Michelin-starred chef, familiar to Indian TV audiences as a longtime MasterChef India judge, was careful in how he framed it. He praised the airport's overall efficiency, but called the carpet's condition "absolutely unnecessary & unacceptable" and said it was "beyond cleaning now." He wrote that he was speaking "on behalf of every asthmatic & people with bronchitis issues," and warned that the dust trapped in carpet like that "can lead to serious breathing issues and also be fatal."

Why a dusty carpet is a real problem

For most travellers a worn carpet is just an eyesore. For people with asthma or bronchitis it can be a genuine trigger. Carpets in high-traffic spaces trap dust, allergens, and fine particles that get kicked back into the air with every footstep and every rolling suitcase, and an airport walkway handles thousands of both every day. Hard flooring is generally far easier to keep clean, which is why many airports have moved away from carpet in their busiest areas.

Khanna's post struck a chord. Several people agreed and hoped the carpet would go; one suggested Indian marble instead, and another pointed out how awkward it is to drag luggage over carpet on a long walk to the gate. Others said they'd noticed the same problem, dust and mould, at Delhi airport too.

The airport responded, and then acted

The airport replied publicly. It thanked Khanna for his comments, said it had noted his concern and shared it with the relevant teams, and promised that "appropriate corrective measures, including thorough cleaning and necessary action, will be undertaken on priority," with passenger health and comfort in mind.

Plenty of complaints to big institutions end with a polite reply and nothing else. This one didn't. Near the end of January, Khanna flew back into Mumbai from Dubai and found that major sections of the carpet were being replaced. He posted again, this time to say thank you. "I am deeply humbled and grateful," he wrote, and he thanked Mumbai Airport by name.

In that second post he also explained what had pushed him to speak up in the first place. On an earlier trip he had seen an elderly woman "struggling to pull her luggage, wheezing loudly," and she had reminded him of his grandmother.

A small story with a useful lesson

There's no rescue here and no large sum of money, just a public complaint that got a real response instead of disappearing into a feedback form. That is worth noticing on its own. It's easy to assume that raising an issue with a big organisation is pointless. This time a clear, specific, polite complaint, made in public, led to a fix within weeks, and the people who'll benefit most are the asthmatic and elderly travellers who would never have had the platform to raise it themselves.