Mumbai: Bareilly passengers left stranded

The passengers of Indigo flight 6E5316 at Mumbai airport

Hundreds of air passengers were left stranded mid-way as their Bareilly-bound Indigo flight from Mumbai was cancelled due to inclement weather. After a chaotic situation on Friday morning, the airline agreed to accommodate them in a Delhi-bound flight but failed to reroute the passengers to their final destination. The stranded passengers told mid-day that they had been left with no choice but to spend from their own pockets to either make a night stay in Delhi or hire a cab to reach Bareilly, both of which are expensive.

Vasai-based Hoshiyarsingh Dasoni, who was travelling to Bareilly on flight 6E5316, told mid-day, "It was rescheduled to take off at 11.35 am, but Indigo officials announced at the last minute that the flight had been cancelled."

According to Dasoni, he had to reach Bareilly in time to catch a train to Nainital and bring back his children to Mumbai. "But this has turned into such a messy situation. Indigo has sent all the passengers to Delhi instead of Bareilly," he said.

Dasoni had to spend from his pocket to reach a hotel in Delhi and for the overnight stay while his children awaited him in Nainital. "I have spent nearly R8,000 unnecessarily in Delhi. Who will bear the cost? My connecting train and flight tickets back to Mumbai are also useless now. Above all, my children are waiting for arrival in Nainital," he added.

Another passenger, Arjun Mehta expressed his frustration over the turn of events. "Our family was scheduled to reach Uttarakhand on December 30 for a puja in the morning. I was travelling with my wife, son and daughter-in-law for the same. Around 5 am, we got a message stating that the flight scheduled for Bareilly at 11.05 am will be delayed and will depart at 11.35 am. We reached the airport accordingly and were waiting to check in. But around 10.30 am, an announcement was made stating that our flight was delayed further and would depart at 12.40 pm," he said.

According to Mehta, the airline provided refreshments since the flight was delayed. "Idli chutney was arranged for us around 10.30 am when the announcement of our flight delay was made. After having breakfast, we returned to our designated gate, waiting for the boarding announcement. Around 11.00 am, the airline announced that the flight was cancelled and we had an option of either taking a refund or taking a flight to Delhi which was scheduled to depart at 2.30 pm. Many who were not in a rush opted for a refund but we had to reach Uttarakhand so we opted for the flight to Delhi."

Mehta had booked a car from Bareilly airport to pick up the family. He had to cancel the booking and book another car from Delhi airport to reach their destination. "This is a complete goof-up by the airline. When we asked about the transport options from Delhi airport, the airline's crew said that we had to travel at our own expense. This is unacceptable. We had booked a ticket to Bareilly and we were dropped off at Delhi," lamented Mehta.

Rajesh Agarwal, another passenger, said, "I was travelling with my wife and two kids. We reached the airport around 8 am to board the flight. Around 10.15 am, an announcement was made that our flight was further delayed till 12.40 pm. Breakfast was arranged for. Later it was announced that our flight to Bareilly had been cancelled. The airline's representative told us to either opt for a refund or take the flight to Delhi at 2.30 pm. We had to reach Uttarakhand urgently and so couldn't afford to take the refund and book another ticket."

Delhi flight also delayed

Meanwhile, the flight scheduled for Delhi was also delayed, causing even more frustration among the passengers. Agarwal said that the flight to Delhi was delayed for an hour. "We were assured that the flight would depart at 2.30 pm but it departed at 3.30 pm instead. We reached Delhi airport around 6.00 pm and had to take a taxi at our own expense for our journey onward. My kids were very frustrated and exhausted by all this and now we will have to travel by road the entire night," he said, adding that they will reach Uttarakhand around 7 am today. It takes around 10 hours to travel by road from Delhi airport to Uttarakhand.

Expert Speak

Aviation expert K V J Rao said, "Whenever a flight is delayed by more than two hours, it is the responsibility of airlines to ensure the passengers reach their destination. The way they have amended the tickets and altered the routes, the airline should have made the arrangements to make them fly from Delhi to Bareilly. It is the responsibility of the airline, or else the airline is liable to compensate them."

According to Rao, if the passengers were left stranded in Delhi by the airline it clearly reflects a deficiency in service. "If the flight is cancelled or delayed due to inclement weather, reschedule the flight or reroute the tickets," Rao told mid-day.

"It is really very shocking to learn that the passengers have been left mid-way. What if a passenger had to attend a court case and s/he has been slapped with a monetary fine for not attending the court proceeding? Who will bear this monetary fine for the error of an airline?" he wondered. "So, it is the total responsibility of the airline to ensure passengers reach their destination. They cannot be left stranded mid-way."

Activist Speak

An aviation rights activist, Advocate Yashwant Shenoy, said, "Passengers are always the ‘losers' in India. The DGCA is controlled by airlines and will never come to the passengers' rescue. The commuter at maximum can file a lawsuit against the airline in the consumer court for demanding compensation for their loss of valuable time and the trouble caused to them by the airline. No passenger would willingly fight a decade-long battle in courts to claim a few thousand which is why airlines tend to exploit their passengers more and more." He added that there are no stringent rules for inconveniences caused to the passengers by an airline.

"IndiGo flight 6E 5316 from Bombay to Bareilly was cancelled due to bad weather in Bareilly. The passengers were served with refreshments and options to reschedule or cancel their flights with refunds. We regret the inconvenience caused to all our passengers," IndiGo Airlines official said.

Two
No. of times flight was delayed before cancellation