Cancellation of flights has passengers livid
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service
Mohali, March 10
The cancellation of certain flights by Jet Airways left passengers, who were to travel to different destinations, including Delhi, Pune and Mumbai, high and dry here this afternoon.
An official of Jet Airways claimed that the flights in question were cancelled a few days ago till March 30 due to operational issues, and all those who had bookings for the flights, had been informed about it well in advance. However, the passengers at the Chandigarh international airport, who were over 30 in number, refuted all such claims.
“We got no information about the cancellation of the flights from the airlines; otherwise we wouldn’t have come here,” said one of the passengers. They were seen having heated arguments with officials of the airlines at its office at the airport.
Sanjiv Kumar, who had come to the airport to board the Chandigarh-Mumbai flight, said he did not get any such message from the airlines. “I have an international flight from Mumbai, but now I am clueless regarding what to do. I came to know about the cancellation of the flight only after coming to the airport,” said Sanjiv Kumar.
Echoing similar sentiments, another air passenger, Anshika, she had a booking for the Chandigarh-Pune flight, which was scheduled to take off this afternoon. I was shocked when I found that the flight had been cancelled. I got no message from the airlines,” said Anshika.
“Most of us have our connecting flights from Delhi or Mumbai, and we will miss these,” said another passenger.
What Jet Airways says
According to a spokesperson for the airlines, they had cancelled two flights — Chandigarh-Delhi (9w646) and Chandigarh-Pune (9w439) from February 27 to March 30 due to operational reasons.
Jet Airways has proactively undertaken certain adjustments to its flight schedule keeping in mind the likely yet interim non-availability of some aircraft in its fleet in the foreseeable future. The list of these proactive or planned cancellations is available on the airline’s website since last month. Jet Airways has kept the regulator (DGCA) as well as its guests informed of these changes.
Consequently, guest inconvenience has been minimal and has been handled in line with defined regulatory guidelines, including alternative choices being offered for re-accommodation on alternative flights or applicable refunds as per the situation. The airline regrets the inconvenience caused to its guests.
