E-Paper
Heated argument breaks out between SpiceJet flyers, staff over flight delay
Incident took place after a Patna-bound flight got delayed by around two hours.
A heated argument broke out between passengers and staff of a Patna-bound SpiceJet flight after it got delayed by over two hours at Delhi airport. According to officials, the flight was delayed due to operational issue.
"The flight’s departure was delayed due to an operational issue. It has already landed in Patna," said the SpiceJet spokesperson. The flight was scheduled for departure at 7:20 am from Delhi, however, it finally departed at around 10:10 am.
Read| Two offloaded from SpiceJet flight for molesting crew member, accused held
According to a passenger, as quoted by news agency PTI, the airline staff earlier said the delay was due to poor weather conditions but later cited technical issues. This led to a brawl with the airline staff and agitated passenger.
The incident comes days after a Ahmedabad-bound SpiceJet flight was cancelled after a five-hour hold-up, leaving flyers dismayed as the airline allegedly didn't release any official statement for the delay.
“SpiceJet flight from Pune to Ahmedabad scheduled to take off at 14.30 yet to take off. The initial delay has been compounded by malfunctioning AC (at 4.22 pm). Finally cancelled. I am returning home after enjoying time at Pune airport for 8 hours,” a flyer has tweeted.
The Union civil aviation ministry earlier reported a total of 546 technical snags in various airlines last year and IndiGo airlines topped the list with 215 such cases. SpiceJet reported 143 technical problems, whereas Vistara reported 97 such cases.
