No pilot on Delhi- Pune flight leaves over 100 passengers stranded
Air India Adds Flights To Phuket From June 1
By: Pune Pulse
September 27, 2023
Pune: Over 100 passengers were allegedly forced to spend nearly two hours inside the aircraft after the pilot of an Air India Flight AI853 from Delhi to Pune was not present on board on September 25.
A flight passenger has expressed her anger through her X handle, “Fed up with Air India AI853 delay. It was delayed from 19:10 to 22:00. Still a lot of confusion. So many lame excuses.”
Another passenger vented his anger on X, “We have been sitting inside the flight for more than an hour, what’s happening? Pilot has exceeded legal hours, does this happen with AI too? Flying with an infant is difficult, wish you could understand!”
As per further information, several passengers were left with inconvenience in the plane without any communication from the airline regarding the delay for a long time.
The Air India flight AI853 was scheduled to depart from Delhi at around 7.10 p.m. and arrive in Pune at around 9.10 p.m. However, the flight took off from Delhi around 9.30 pm and arrived in Pune at about 11 pm.
A civil aviation expert, requesting anonymity said, “These flights are scheduled flights. Hence, proper checks and inspections must be done about everything beforehand properly. This particular incident shows the kind of ignorance and carelessness the airline has shown. The entire brunt has to be faced by the passenger as, apart from flight delay, they have to face utmost inconvenience etc. Passengers will not bother to care for the fact that the airline is facing such issues. What is more unfortunate is that, after the delay, proper communication wasn’t done with the passenger regarding the reasons for the delay. This is highly unprofessional. Hence, the DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) must come down heavily on the airline. Even the rules in civil aviation regulations are not much in the favor of passengers.”
