Over 150 passengers flying from Delhi to Pune spent an hour sitting in buses provided by the airline after their flight was delayed on Tuesday.
As per a Times of India report, a GoFirst flight from Delhi to Pune was scheduled to leave at 9:30 am but was delayed due to a technical snag. Passengers had reportedly been shifted to 3-4 buses at about 9 am and were stuck in buses until 10 am when the boarding began. The flight finally took off at 11 am, the report said.
Recalling the “horrid experience”, Neeraj Sheth, a passenger, told Times of India, “The flight was supposed to take off around 9.30am. The airline made all of us sit in three or four buses from Terminal-3 of Delhi airport. These buses were to go to the aircraft, following which we would board. However, the buses simply refused to move.”
Sheth added that flyers started to get distressed with the buses not moving for around 20 minutes. “Flight delays can happen, and we do accept it. However, what is the logic of keeping flyers waiting inside buses? We could have been taken back to the terminal building, where we would have waited more comfortably.
“For some time, there was even no air conditioning in the bus where I was seated. Flyers requested for the AC to be turned on as it was getting hotter, after which the staff complied. However, when we asked them to shift us back to the terminal building, they didn’t agree for some reason. We later came to know that the flight encountered a technical problem, resulting in its delay,” Sheth said.
Many flyers sat and some even stood for about an hour in the buses. “When some travellers got angry, the buses moved for a few seconds, but stopped again. This continued for a long time – it was a terrible experience,” said Sheth. “There were many senior citizens, children and others who were troubled. All were frustrated. I still don’t understand why the airline didn’t transfer us back to the terminal building. Many requests were made, but the staff just didn’t agree.”
A GoFirst spokesperson told Times of India, “Boarding was announced at 9.37am. After two coaches reported at bay, engineering staff held the boarding due to a technical snag. Passengers were informed in the coach that due to a technical snag in the aircraft, it will take time for boarding and also advised to be there in the coach only. An apology was tendered for the inconvenience caused.”
At 10 am, buses finally moved towards the flight and the boarding began, as per the report. The flight took off at 11 am.
This incident comes weeks after a GoFirst flight from Bengaluru to Delhi had left behind more than 50 passengers in January, inviting a fine of Rs 10 lakh from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
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