18-hr wait for AI’s Dubai flyers as aircraft develops tech snag

PANAJI: Passengers on the Air India Express flight from Goa to Dubai on Saturday had an agonising 18-hour wait as the aircraft suffered a technical glitch minutes before takeoff. Flight IX839, which was scheduled to depart from Goa International Airport, Dabolim, at 1.10am with 149 passengers, finally took off at 7pm after the airline flew in technicians and spares to return the Boeing 737 to operational status.

Irate passengers who were stuck at the airport claimed that the airline did not provide any assistance initially, and only after passengers raised a hue and cry did the ground crew respond to their concerns.

“We boarded the aircraft at 12.30am and the doors were closed after all passengers completed boarding. Then, the commander of the flight, at exactly 1am, said there is a technical snag and that engineers are working on it. He said that the aircraft would be ready to fly in 10-15 minutes but after that there was no update,” said Ajay Abraham, a passenger on the flight.

With no luck in trying to rectify the fault, the pilots then asked the passengers, including around 40 senior citizens and children, to disembark and return to the terminal building.

The airline claimed that “operational reasons” caused the delay and had asked the stranded passengers to show “patience and understanding” because of the situation. The passengers were not given any update till 5.30am, when they were told that the flight would now depart at 4.30pm. At 10am, the flight was again rescheduled, to 6.15pm

“As per the rules, I believe accommodation should have been provided to the passengers who are stuck at the airport. There were women and children who had not slept the entire night,” said Uwais Ali Sayed, who was also scheduled to fly to Dubai.

Passengers demanded that the Union ministry of civil aviation and the Director General of Civil Aviation initiate action against the airline.

Though the passengers initially complied with the ground staff, tempers began to rise when the ground crew refused to provide food or accommodation to the stranded passengers. The airline only offered tickets to 30 passengers on the Sunday morning flight to Dubai.

“It was chaos, passengers were shouting and protesting, but no senior representative arrived to provide an explanation to the passengers. Many missed their connecting flights and other commitments. After shouting for some time, they provided water, and in the evening, they gave us biryani before the flight,” said Abraham.

A lady travelling alone with a toddler and a small child was driven to tears as she was not familiar with Goa.

Interestingly, all Air India Express flights operating on Saturday saw delays of at least an hour.