On December 7, a female customer care executive of Go Air was slapped by an irate passenger after the flight was delayed by four hours because of a bird hit.
Forget road rage, it’s airport rage. Frequent flight delays and lack of amenities bring out the worst in passengers
MUMBAI: On December 7, a female customer care executive of Go Air was slapped by an irate passenger after the flight was delayed by four hours because of a bird hit. “The passengers were distributed snacks and were accommodated on the next flight,” said a Go Air spokesperson. But it was not enough. On November 6, a Spicejet, Mumbai-Delhi-Varanasi flight was cancelled for operational reasons, and rescheduled the next day. While some passengers were accommodated on another flight, at least 64 had to wait out.
The angry passengers protested; the police had to be called in to restore order.
The resources of the domestic airport is stretched to its limit with 40 landings and take-offs every hour. According to the Airport Authority, there are 700 landings and take-offs at the Mumbai airport every day.
The fact that it’s holiday season makes matters worse. Dr I Vishwanathan, 60, had planned a three-day to Benares when his Spicejet flight to Varanasi was cancelled. “I lost two days due to cancellation and rescheduling,” he said.
Lack of amenities like a visitors’ room, smoking lounge and no restaurants adds to the problem. It’s the same with the international airport. Airlines are doing their best to handle the situation by training their crew to handle angry and disruptive passengers. But they admit that usually the passengers are justified. “The environment at the airport is pathetic.” said the Spicejet spokesperson.
According to a Spicjet source, around 73 per cent of the delays are due to external reasons beyond their control like VIP movement, air traffic congestion, air force or navy exercise and bad weather.
Manish Khalghatgi, spokesperson for the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), which is handling the airport modernisation, said: “We are upgrading terminal 2B and 2C which will be refurbished by April 2008.” “After that, we will be closing down terminal 2A and shifting the airlines to terminal 2B and 2C which will result in temporary dislocation of services.”
The Director General of Civil Aviation has asked the airlines to nominate a senior level officer as Nodal Officer to take care of passengers’ needs. “Passengers get stranded because of bad weather. This is less likely to happen with larger companies like Jet Airways and Air India as they have back-up flights and a stronger backend staff,” said Khalghatgi. “It is the responsibility of the airline to maintain a constant vigil,” he added.
(With inputs from Radhika Raj)
s_naveeta@dnaindia.net
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