SpiceJet Delhi-Shirdi flight diverted to Mumbai; due to bad weather

PUNE Devotees of Sai Baba who boarded SpiceJet flight SG 953 from Delhi to Shirdi were in for a hard time as first the flight was diverted to Mumbai due to bad weather at Shirdi airport and subsequently, the same flight which was again to take off from Shirdi to Delhi was cancelled as it was stuck in Mumbai

PUNE Devotees of Sai Baba who boarded SpiceJet flight SG 953 from Delhi to Shirdi were in for a hard time as first the flight was diverted to Mumbai due to bad weather at Shirdi airport and subsequently, the same flight which was again to take off from Shirdi to Delhi was cancelled as it was stuck in Mumbai.

Devotees of Sai Baba who boarded SpiceJet flight SG 953 from Delhi to Shirdi were in for a hard time as first the flight was diverted to Mumbai due to bad weather) (HT FILE PHOTO)

A SpiceJet spokesperson said, “SpiceJet flight SG 953 dated May 19, 2022, operating from Delhi to Shirdi was diverted to Mumbai due to bad weather at Shirdi airport. The flight departed from Delhi at 2.50pm and was scheduled to land in Shirdi at 4.50pm. Due to strong crosswinds however, the flight could not land at Shirdi airport. At 5.10pm, the captain, after attempting two approaches, decided to divert to Mumbai where the aircraft landed at 5.35 pm.”

“Shirdi airport operates under visual flight rules (VFR) and flight operations are not permitted after sunset hence passengers were given the option of hotel accommodation in Mumbai or travel by road in coaches provided by SpiceJet. Around 50 passengers opted for the hotel accommodation and the remaining passengers decided to travel from Mumbai to Shirdi by road,” he said.

Flyers from both Delhi and Shirdi had to face a lot of inconvenience and they claimed that the airline staff wasn’t responsive to their queries.

Deepak Arora tweeted, “My uncle was travelling by SG 953 from Delhi to Shirdi but the flight was diverted to Mumbai. Since 2.15 pm, he is on the flight without tea or coffee. He is not getting any information about when the flight will take off. Can someone provide an update? When will the flight take off?” (sic)

“He is a diabetic patient. And in the meantime, please arrange some tea/coffee for him so that he can take his medicine. The airhostess already told him that there is no tea or coffee on the flight. A very pathetic experience… Now after being stranded at the airport for five hours, the staff is telling them to get off from the craft and go to Shirdi by themselves. There is no alternate conveyance provided by the airline. SpiceJet must compensate for this,” (sic) Arora said in his tweet.

Rucha Srivastava, whose family was stuck at Shirdi airport, said, “My family is trying to talk with the staff at Shirdi airport but no action has been taken yet. First, they were saying they would send the passengers to Nashik airport for a night flight to Delhi. Now, they are saying that the flight is scheduled on May 20 morning. The staff themselves is clueless and no arrangement has been made. Ideally, this should have been taken care of as soon as the flight was cancelled.”