NEW DELHI: How would you describe a flight journey between Kolkata and New Delhi of over two hours taking 13 more hours to complete.
“Nightmarish and horrible,” yelled Air India passengers as they landed here after undergoing through the “gruelling experience”.
The delay was attributed to a technical snag and flight-duty time limitations by pilots, but the 236-odd passengers on board complained that they were never informed by the staff and were made to change two aircraft before they landed here.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was among the passengers, went back to the party office to catch a quick nap before catching the morning flight.
The Dreamliner aircraft was scheduled to leave from Kolkata around 5.45 pm, but was pushed back for taxiing at 6.15 pm. Then the pilot reported a snag. A second incoming AI flight was arranged, but then one of the pilots came under the “flight duty time limitation” after all the passengers boarded the flight. The flight was then rescheduled to 6.30 am on Monday.
“6 hrs of being inside AI 701, my 5m [baby] is on the floor as AI is clueless,” an Air India passenger tweeted on Sunday.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers, however, safety is paramount and hence the delay,” an Air India spokesperson said.
Sources said of the 236 passengers, 154 remained on board while the rest left by different morning flights.