Cancellation of and delays in flights coming to Visakhapatnam from various destinations during the last two days have become major issues for travellers to and from the city.
The negligence of the management in noting the Flight and Duty Time Limitations resulted in Air India (AI 651) Mumbai - Vizag via Raipur flight, scheduled to leave Mumbai on Wednesday at 10.40 a.m., being delayed by more than five hours.
“We were taken to the aircraft by bus, but had to wait in the bus itself. Later, we had to return to the terminal for a security check once again. We were then given a new boarding pass,” a passenger on the flight told The Hindu .
“After a prolonged delay, we were once again allowed to board the aircraft, only to find no cabin crew and had to wait for over an hour,” he added.
Airport sources clarified that the crew had disembarked due to FDTL and the new crew had not joined duty, causing the delay.
The AI mess up, at a time when the beleaguered SpiceJet has been cancelling flights regularly, is all the more distressing, say passengers.
A Vizag techie working in Bangalore R. Kiran Kumar was informed that his Bangalore – Vizag flight was cancelled on Tuesday. He was offered a flight via Chennai the same day.
“When I woke up yesterday morning, I noticed the message on my mobile confirming the operation of the flight. Again, at around 11 a.m., I received a call from the airline saying that the flight was rescheduled to leave early and asked me to report early at the airport,” he said.
“On reaching Bangalore airport, I found that I, along with many other SpiceJet passengers, was left in the lurch as flights from Bangalore were cancelled on Tuesday. Worse, the baggage of SpiceJet passengers was strewn all around the airline counters after the baggage check was completed,” Mr. Kiran Kumar told The Hindu .
