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Over 300 stranded as Air India Delhi-Vancouver flight delayed for 11 hours
Over 300 Air India passengers flying from Delhi to Vancouver in Canada were delayed for nearly 11 hours as their aircraft developed technical faults before scheduled take-off at 5.15am on Sunday.
Over 300 Air India passengers flying from Delhi to Vancouver in Canada were delayed for nearly 11 hours as their aircraft developed technical faults before scheduled take-off at 5.15am on Sunday. The airline arranged for another Boeing 777 plane that departed at 4pm, airport officials said.
“Boarding for the flight (AI 185) commenced at around 3.05pm and the flight could take off only by 4pm, 11 hours after its scheduled departure time,” an official said, requesting anonymity.
Angry passengers shouted slogans against the airline as it kept postponing departure. Air India declined to comment.
“@airindiain, your today’s Flight #AI185, STD of 05:15 delayed to 05:35, then to 06:35, then to 08:00, then to 11:00 and now to 15:00. Still there is uncertainty if it will fly or will be canceled. Passengers are shouting “Murdabad” slogans at the airport. We paid about three times pre-covid fares for a flight and were still unable to fly on time. Anyway your ground staff is insensitive, lethargic and unprofessional. On top of that there is no clarity on the flight schedule,” tweeted Jagpreet Singh, whose sister was schedule to travel in the flight.
“My sister’s phone has run out of battery. She is travelling alone with her eight-month-old toddler and is stressed about the journey,” Singh told HT.
The flight was delayed due to technical issues, airport officials said. “The aircraft was being worked on by the engineering team, but it was later decided that the aircraft would have to be grounded. Passengers were given refreshments at 8am,” an airport official said. “An alternate aircraft was arranged and the flight then took off at around 4pm.”
Passengers of the flight complained that the airline crew’s behaviour was inappropriate and that they were clueless about the situation. “There are toddlers, kids, senior citizens in the flight, yet no one cares to answer us,” one of the passengers said, declining to be named. “No one cares to help and we are not being updated on the status of our flight.”
AI 185 operates on alternate days, according to Flightradar24, a Swedish internet-based service that shows real-time aircraft tracking information on a map. It was also delayed for over 12 hours on Friday.
A few other Air India international flights, too, saw passenger complaints on social media platforms.
Hemal Shah, a resident of London, tweeted that his wife’s flight from Mumbai to London on Friday was cancelled without any prior information. “Flight cancelled. Travellers were not given any notice. People travelled from long to reach crowded Heathrow Airport. Staff at Airport had no clue. They themselves were having no clue. AI 128 8-July-22 LHR to Mum #WingsOfChange’ (sic),” he tweeted.
Another passenger, Rakesh Munjal, who flew Air India from Sydney to Delhi on Saturday, tweeted: “@airindiain Travelled by AI 301 from Sydney to Delhi on 9th July 2022. Paid for a designated seat 18-C.The said seat was defective and on reclining it didn’t stayed back. The controlling devise of Entertainment system was also broken. Is this Air India giving to its passengers. Please advise the remedy available to the undersigned to claim extra charges paid for seat and harassment meted out more than 12 hours on account of broken devise for connecting to inflight staff as well as entertainment.”
This comes after the airline was fined ₹10 lakh on June 14 by the aviation regulator for not compensating passengers who were denied boarding.
“It appears that the airline does not have a policy in this regard and is not paying any compensation to hapless passengers,” the directorate general of civil aviation said in a statement. “It is a matter of serious concern and unacceptable. In specific cases detailed in the show cause notice, after going through AI submissions, as part of enforcement action, the competent authority has levied a penalty of Rs. 10 Lacs.”
