New Delhi: A doctor from West Bengal, who was about to board a Kolkata-bound AirIndia flight and was supposed to treat his patients in the city upon return journey, shared his ordeal over flight cancellation and tagged Union Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia drawing his attention to the issue.
The airlines' subpar service left many passengers stranded at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi. The Kolkata-bound Air India flight from Delhi was delayed due to a technical snag with the aircraft. The Air India flight AI 762 was scheduled to take off from Delhi for Kolkata at 9 pm IST but was delayed until 11:55 pm.
This led to a chaotic situation at midnight, leaving passengers stranded at Delhi airport till 2 am in the early morning. A number of passengers had made travel arrangements to reunite with their families ahead of Diwali but were disrupted by Air India's flight cancellations.
Souradipta Chandra, who was supposed to travel on the Air India flight to Kolkata, said, "Our flight AI 762 from Delhi to Kolkata was scheduled to depart at 9 pm on November 7. We were informed around 4.30 pm that the flight had been delayed by an hour. We reached the airport at 7.30 pm, only to be informed the flight would depart at midnight. After waiting at the airport for 5 hours, we reached the boarding gate, where the staff kept informing us that the boarding would begin in about 10 minutes. This went on for over 2 hours, after which there was utter chaos. The staff was of no help, and passengers rightfully lost their cool."
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This is what is going on. No pilot, no help. We are stuck at the airport for 5 hours with zero help #AirIndia @airindia @jagograhakjago @MLJ_GoI pic.twitter.com/26XimrVoWQ
— Souradipta Chandra (@ShouryaC) November 7, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">This is what is going on. No pilot, no help. We are stuck at the airport for 5 hours with zero help #AirIndia @airindia @jagograhakjago @MLJ_GoI pic.twitter.com/26XimrVoWQ
— Souradipta Chandra (@ShouryaC) November 7, 2023This is what is going on. No pilot, no help. We are stuck at the airport for 5 hours with zero help #AirIndia @airindia @jagograhakjago @MLJ_GoI pic.twitter.com/26XimrVoWQ
— Souradipta Chandra (@ShouryaC) November 7, 2023
Later, several passengers claimed that no refreshments were given to them. "As per the economy class passengers, no food or refreshments were provided," passengers said. Doctor Souradipta wanted to travel to Kolkata to attend to his patients, but due to a delayed flight, he could not manage to attend to his patients.
"When I realised around 1.30 am that this flight would eventually not leave, I managed to get my ticket cancelled and get on another flight the next morning (today), so I could go home and rest. My schedule was ruined anyway, and for Air India's utter unprofessionalism, my patients have also suffered," Dr Chandra said.
Passenger Dr. Souradipta Chandra took to social media and criticised Air India, saying, "Clearly, nothing has improved in AirIndia Flight AI 762 from Delhi-Kolkata postponed indefinitely with no help from staff. Passengers stuck for 6 hours. 9 pm scheduled flight - scenes at 1 AM at IGI T3 gate 32 B." Dr Souradipta Chandra, along with tagging Aviation Minister Scindia, shared a short video on social media depicting distressed passengers engaged in arguments with Air India staff.
Air India replied on X on flight cancellation and apology to the passengers, "We deeply regret that this delay has impacted your journey. However, your feedback is crucial to us, as it helps us identify areas where we can improve our services and ensure that they avoid recurrence in the future. This will certainly be looked into." This is not the first time that Air India has cancelled a flight due to a 'technical snag'.
