BENGALURU: Air India's non-stop flight from Bengaluru to San Francisco has suffered a delay of over 13 hours due to technical issues causing enormous inconvenience to the 206 passengers who had planned to fly by it.
The flight AI 175 finally took off at 3.26 am on Thursday (December 22). It was scheduled to depart at 2.20 pm on Wednesday. Flyers took to Twitter to vent their ire with many lashing out at Air India and cautioning others against travelling by it.
This Boeing 777-200LR aircraft operates on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and resumed services on December 2 after a long break on account of poor patronage and COVID restrictions.
Ranganath Mavinakere said, "Today I had the worst experience with Air India AI 175 from Bangalore to SFO. 12 hours delay with clueless staff. Passengers got to know of the delay only after check-in and spent 12 hours in the airport with totally clueless AI staff. Will think twice before taking Air India."
Flyer Meghna Singhal tweeted, "Was on flight from Bengaluru to SFO on 21st. delayed by 13 hrs. I chose to come back home. Flight on 23rd delayed already by 7 hrs. The one I want on 25th not able to get a confirmed ticket. Really unreliable. Please reconsider before booking Air India #NOTWORTHIT."
A few also spoke that elder passengers and kids were struggling inside the airport.
The Air India official Twitter handle claimed the airline's ground team was providing all required assistance to passengers. "Meals and refreshments are being served currently to passengers waiting at the airport and accommodation if needed..."
Citing technical reasons behind the delay, an Air India spokesperson said that the issue led to thorough checks forcing a delay of the flight. "Since we accord top priority to safety issues, it was subsequently decided not to operate the aircraft till detailed engineering checks are carried out."