The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Sunday blues for passengers of Air India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 01, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Sunday blues for passengers of Air India

Suresh Krishnamoorthy

Delayed flights, paucity of information make for an agonising wait

HYDERABAD: It was an agonising wait for mother of two, Juberiya Mehdi, when she cleared her security check for boarding Air India flight 601 at Hyderabad early on Sunday morning.

So it was with a family with three young children, one of whom was suffering with diarrhoea and for dozens of other passengers who had opted to fly by Air India.

The flight was to take off at 3.40 a.m., but ultimately left Begumpet Airport after 12.30 p.m. At the end of it, Mrs. Juberiya and her two-year-old daughter, Sana, returned to her parent's home, as they refused to let her proceed until things stabilised. She was booked to travel to Los Angeles via Mumbai and it was lack of information coupled with the seemingly interminable wait that made the experience unbearable.

Sunday evening too presented a similar picture. Flight No. 865 to Jeddah which was to have taken off at 5.35 p.m., was rescheduled to fly half an hour past Sunday midnight. The passengers were given a snack, cups of tea and coffee and dinner too, by the airline. But it was information they primarily wanted and which was not forthcoming.

Officials said they did not have any information from rain-ravaged Mumbai. Air India's Regional Manager, Mazharullah, said he had just returned home for a bath and shave, after being at the airport for close to 60 hours. "What can we do when we do not have information? Why would we keep our passengers in the dark? Our staff has been working non-stop for more than two days. We have been doing our best to keep the passengers comfortable during their wait," he told The Hindu .

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