Passengers worst hit

With faulty service and worse communication, travellers on Jet Airways are getting service at its worst

Passengers worst hit

With faulty service and worse communication, travellers on Jet Airways are getting service at its worst

Marooned: Passengers weer left stranded at domestic airports across the country as pilots of Jet Airways continued their strike. (Right) An elderly woman waits outside the domestic terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. pics/AFP

Despite widespread cancellations and re-bookings, Jet officials seem to be taking customers for granted and hoping that they will 'bear' with them.

At the Jet Airways booking counter at BIAL, Vinay Medhekar, Director, DACS, Pune said, "In spite of all these already existing problems, they charged cancellation charges even before I got my refund." He added, "There was absolutely no prior information about the flight status."

Ratan Khanna from Delhi who was booked on the last Jet Lite flight from Delhi to Bangalore on Sept 8 says, "I was charged a cancellation fee when I asked for a refund and that's really unfair, considering they gave me no information even though I called them all afternoon. I had to book another flight, just so I was on the safer side."

According to Manilal Ghoshal, a businessman from Kolkata, "they told me that my flight is scheduled for tonight but they haven't confirmed, worse still, they say speak to the supervisor and he might arrange something for you, it's just terrible." Manilal had to buy another ticket from Indigo airlines paying an extra Rs 8,000, but had to make do without a Rs 3,000 worth ticket from Jet that was 'unrefundable'.

Outrageous

"The management should have made arrangements or told us way ahead. This way, they cancel flights, they do not contact us and we are still held responsible! It's outrageous," Manilal said.u00a0 Santhanam K who came to bid farewell to his son at the airport couldn't agree more. "This is haphazard management at the least and is causing unnecessary anxiety. Not only are the officials not revealing information on the phone, when I was connected to a top authority, he asked me to check at the airport."

"My son has a connecting flight to New York at 11 tonight, I hope he gets it," he added. Jet Airways has released official press releases that says the airline "regrets the inconvenience caused to its esteemed guests and seeks their understanding and support during this difficult phase." That's fine as long as they work with the problem at hand and ensure that passengers aren't inconvenienced due to a managerial imbroglio.

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