Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 19: Over 100 flyers of an Air India flight wanting to return to India are stuck at Phuket in Thailand for the last three days as the flight has been cancelled and rescheduled several times due to technical faults making some of the passengers to request the union civil aviation ministry to intervene.
Several of the stranded passengers made social media postings to describe their ordeal. According to the reports, the Air India flight AI377 (Phuket-New Delhi) was set to take off from Phuket International Airport for New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on November 16 late evening. However, the airline officials informed the passengers of a six-hour delay due to a technical fault.
After hours of waiting at the airport, they were eventually made to board the flight, only to be de-boarded an hour later when the flight was cancelled and then rescheduled to the next day on November 17.
Meanwhile, another flight was prepped. The passengers said they were told that it was the same aircraft, but the fault had been fixed. The flight took off and about two-and-a-half hours after take-off, it landed back at Phuket and the passengers were again told that there was a technical fault. Since then, the passengers, including elderly and children, have been stuck in Phuket.
Air India, while regretting the inconvenience to passengers, said the November 16 flight was “cancelled due to a technical issue.” The airline insisted that the staff on the ground made efforts to minimise passengers’ inconvenience, providing all on-ground assistance including hotel accommodations and meals.
“Some of the guests were also accommodated on alternatively available flights. Passengers were also offered options for full refunds on cancellation and complimentary rescheduling. At Air India, the safety and security of our passengers and crew is a top priority,” it added. It also claimed that many of the passengers have been sent back by alternate arrangements. “Several passengers have been sent back. About 40 are still in Phuket, they would be sent back this evening,” airlines sources said.
The airline said the flight was initially cancelled after the crew on-board ran into Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) issues. Later, the Airbus A320 aircraft encountered technical issues and was taken back to Phuket. As per the reports, the arrangements were made for passengers’ accommodation and were given reimbursement.
However, several passengers have complained about unsatisfactory response from airline representatives. They took to social media to voice their frustration and concerns. “@airindia Pathetic services. Flight AI-1377 returned to Phuket after flying 3 hours above Phuket. More than 150 passengers stranded. No satisfactory reply from airlines. 2 consecutive days same flight is cancelled,” a user said.
The users also urged the intervention of Ministry of Civil Aviation and Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu. “@Ministry_CA @RamMNK @MoCA_GoI @DGCAIndia @AAI_Official Please look into this on urgent basis. We are stranded in Phuket. #AirIndia boarded us on a plane which wasnt entriely fit for flying. That’s a huge risk and potentially life threating,” a user said.
