Spicejet reschedules flight by 13 hours, passengers inconvenienced

In a case highlighting callousness on the part of an airline company, a passenger was shocked to learn that his Spicejet flight to Chennai from Mumbai which was scheduled on April 2 was rescheduled by about 13 hours, due to change in the airline's summer schedule.

Also, when he asked about the status of his return flight of April 4, he was doubly shocked when the airline executive told him that the flight had already been cancelled, though he did not receive any intimation about it.

Anand Shirali, the aggrieved passenger, has just one question to ask the airline. "If I made the booking about 20 days ago, wasn't the airline management aware that the schedule was going to be changed? I just fail to understand this," he said.

In the aviation industry, the schedules for winter and summer- which are generally the peak tourist seasons- are decided well in advance.

Shirali, who later booked a flight with another airline, said that rescheduling of a flight by a couple of hours was understandable. But he could not accept that it had been rescheduled by about 13 hours. "I was supposed to reach Chennai for a family function, and hence booked my flight accordingly. But rescheduling of the flight spoiled all my plans. If I had taken it, then I would have reached my destination way past midnight. This is not what I wanted," he said.

A Spicejet airline spokesperson said, "As we are in transition for the summer schedule, the flight has been delayed for 13 hours 25 minutes i.e. earlier flight (was) departing Mumbai at 7:55 am and (had) been rescheduled at 8:20 in the evening. The same was informed to the passenger dated 23rd March 2015 at 10:20 am by our call centre, and full refund for the booking was processed on passengers request."