Air India flight delayed by a day

As many as 200 passengers of a Bangkok-bound Air India flight from Mumbai were forced to sit in the aircraft for almost four hours owing to a last-minute technical snag. The ordeal for the passengers lasted for more than 20 hours as Air India was unable to fix the glitch promptly. Many passengers were later compelled to book tickets on other airlines at the last minute.

According to airport sources, Air India flight AI 330, Mumbai-Bangkok was scheduled to depart around 1.50 am (late Friday night) and all the passengers had boarded the flight. However, after spending four hours in the aircraft, the passengers were de-boarded. They were stuck at the airport, as the flight was rescheduled multiple times.

Around 60 passengers took a refund and called off the trip, while a few waited at the airport till Saturday evening. Later, according to sources, the flight was rescheduled for Sunday. Passengers who had back-to-back tour plans, however, booked tickets on other airlines, sources said.

When this paper approached the airline for their official comment in the incident, the airline representative said, \"The flight was delayed because of a technical glitch.\"

However, other sources from the airport told this newspaper that the prolonged wait took place because of the non-availability of an engineer to fix the problem.

Dipti Patel, a chartered accountant from Mumbai, said the passengers had finished boarding the flight by 1.40 am. They were then made to sit in the aircraft till 5 am on Saturday with the crew assuring them at regular intervals that the flight would soon take off. However, after 5 am they were asked to alight from the plane. “We were taken back to the terminal building and informed that the aircraft would take off at 8.30 am. Later, at 8.30 am, the airlines informed us that the flight would take off at 9.30 am.”

Ms Patel and her two friends were going to Bangkok on a holiday trip. “My online bookings for hotels and tours will go waste, as I am still stuck in Mumbai. My back-to-back travel plans have gone haywire,” fretted Ms Patel.

Another passenger Jeenal Shah, said, “The airlines had our baggage, so we waited till evening, but when I realised that the flight has been rescheduled to Sunday, I immediately booked a ticket on a Thai Airways flight.”

Ms Shah said she would press for the refund once she was back from her journey.

Air India officials commenting on the incident said, “The flight will take off at 12 am (Sunday). We have accommodated all the passengers and also also provided them refreshments.”