Six passengers, boarded an Indigo flight for Chennai but were lured out of the aircraft at Bengaluru on Sunday, out of which 2 were elderly persons, by promising to board them onto an alternative flight which was ready to depart. The flight refused to fly with only six people onboard, and the passengers soon realised it. There were no other flights flying to Chennai that night, so the passengers were stranded and had to spend their night in the city and fly out on Monday.
To add insult to injury, flyers of IndiGo allegedly refused to have any accommodation for them at the airport hotel of Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). This incident unfolded on Sunday at 9:30pm after the landing of the IndiGo flight 6E478, from Amritsar to Chennai via Bengaluru, where the other passengers landed. On Monday morning, all the passengers, settled into their respective flights, were headed to Chennai. Unexpectedly, each traveler received a surprising phone call from a crew member who calmly explained that they were currently at the airport with fresh boarding passes for another flight bound for Chennai.
In a sudden turn of events, the passengers were courteously asked to disembark from their current aircraft and make their way to the new departure gate. This unforeseen request created a stir among the travelers as they navigated this sudden change in plans, unsure of the reasons behind this unexpected switch. IndiGo’s assistant manager at the airport, Lloyd Pinto, came, but he too acted cold, with no sympathy for even the elderly passengers who were stranded. Finally, after admitting it that it was their fault, they denied an airport hotel, saying that the passengers were not eligible.
Every flight is bound to provide the services for which the passengers paid for regardless of the number of passengers paying for it. Not just the crew but the ground staff deceived the passengers as well when they loosely promised that another flight was waiting to depart, and the staff were carrying their boarding passes to guide them to the alternative flight. Instead they were left helpless, while no other flight was being flown to Chennai and had to stay overnight at Bengaluru, in an airport hotel.
Two travellers spent the night in a hotel 13 km away from the airport, while the other four passengers stayed at the hotel. IndiGo’s 6E 478 flight was scheduled to travel from Amritsar to Chennai via Bengaluru, carrying eight transit passengers. Unfortunately, a delay in the arrival of the incoming aircraft from Amritsar disrupted the timely connection for these passengers at Bengaluru Airport. Despite the ground staff’s dedicated efforts to facilitate the connection, the limited time window proved insufficient for the transit passengers to board the onward flight to Chennai.
This unforeseen circumstance left both the airline and the passengers facing the challenge of an interrupted travel itinerary, prompting a need for alternative solutions to ensure the transit passengers reached their intended destination without further inconvenience or delay. Later, IndiGo apologised for the inconvenience caused. A similar incident happened in the same airport, with an Indigo flight, where 6 passengers were never informed that their flight was going to leave early and were left stranded for 6 hours.
Sources : Times of India, News18 By Soujanya Das Roy From Kolkata Reporting for True To Life