The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Vexing time for passengers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 06, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Vexing time for passengers

Staff Reporter

Air Deccan Mumbai flight delayed

BANGALORE: Air Deccan passengers who had booked tickets to Mumbai had to wait at the HAL Airport for several hours on Monday.

The passengers complained that the airline officials were evasive about the undue delay and only promised that the flight would leave soon. They said they were let into the waiting hall before boarding after security checks — in time for the flight scheduled at 2 p.m. Then it was an agonising wait for them. It was difficult to get any information regarding the delay of the flight.

They said there was none from Air Deccan present to explain what was happening. They said attempts to get information from the call centres of the airline were futile. In one case, a passenger who was asked to wait till the call was transferred to an executive, did not get the connection even after waiting for over 20 minutes. He had to disconnect the line without getting any information.

Air Decan officials reportedly told them that the flight had been rescheduled for 3 p.m. Then around 5.30 p.m. the airline officials again said that the flight would leave at 6 p.m.

The Chief Operating Officer of Air Deccan, V. Bedi, told The Hindu that a technical snag had caused the delay and the flight could not leave Bangalore even at 7.50 p.m. "If we can fix the problem now, the flight will leave within 15 minutes or we may have to cancel it," he said. The problem pertained to the "weather radar," he added.

The Chief Executive Officer of Air Deccan, G.R. Gopinath, said normal flight services would be restored on Tuesday.

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