The airline said they are trying to locate passengers’ luggage
Air travel may be the safest mode of transportation but it definitely is not the most hassle-free way, as a group of senior citizens discovered recently. Two senior citizens who flew down to Ahmedabad from Guwahati on Saturday to attend a wedding had to skip the event after the airline allegedly misplaced their luggage. In a separate incident, a group of elderly tourists from Ahmedabad had to wait at the Chennai airport for 10 hours after their return flight got delayed. They complained that their airline did not inform them of the delay till they reached the airport.
In the first incident, Chandra Parmar and Niru Rathod, who were travelling from Guwahati by Indigo flight, claim they were made to wait for three hours while the airline tried to figure out where their luggage had gone. Naresh Parmar, 45, who was travelling with the elderly women, said, “We were supposed to attend a wedding in Bhavnagar on Saturday and had to reach there by 10.30 am. But when we landed at Ahmedabad airport at 6.30 pm, my aunts couldn’t find their luggage. The airline took three hours to figure out where the luggage was.
Later, they told us that we will have to come back because they suspected the luggage might have been left behind at the Guwahati airport.” He rues that because of the airline’s oversight, they were forced to miss the wedding of a close relative. Indigo official told Mirror that they were still trying to locate the bags and are hopeful to find them by Sunday. “We tried to reach out to the passengers in the evening to give them a update but they were not reachable.” the official said. In another case, 67-year-old Shyamal Joshi and four others from his family who had travelled to Tamil Nadu had to spend 10 hours at the Chennai airport after their air carrier allegedly failed to inform them of delay in flight.
The passengers allege that the airline also failed to make alternative arrangements for the passengers. Joshi said, “We boarded a flight from Madurai as per schedule and reached Chennai around 12.30 pm on Friday. We were to board the 4.35 pm SpiceJet flight to Ahmedabad. But at the airport, it was announced that the flight had been rescheduled to 9.15 pm. Later, another announcement was made that the flight would be further delayed. The airline did not give us any prior information and they had also made no alternative arrangement for the passengers of the delayed flight.”
He further claimed that the airline staff was casual about the delay of the flight and allegedly told him that it was not just his flight but other flights were also delayed or cancelled. Joshi says he checked other airlines and found that their flights were operating as per schedule. According to sources, the passengers were given the option of claiming refund on their tickets but the group refused refund.
Joshi justified this, saying, “We booked the flight two month ago, when the tickets were selling at Rs 6,000. Now, what is the point of claiming refunds when the new booking would cost me anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000? We had to spend the whole day in the airport because the boarding pass was issued and we couldn’t leave the airport.” Mirror sent emails to SpiceJet regarding the issues faced by their passengers but the airline did not respond to the mails.
In the first incident, Chandra Parmar and Niru Rathod, who were travelling from Guwahati by Indigo flight, claim they were made to wait for three hours while the airline tried to figure out where their luggage had gone. Naresh Parmar, 45, who was travelling with the elderly women, said, “We were supposed to attend a wedding in Bhavnagar on Saturday and had to reach there by 10.30 am. But when we landed at Ahmedabad airport at 6.30 pm, my aunts couldn’t find their luggage. The airline took three hours to figure out where the luggage was.
Later, they told us that we will have to come back because they suspected the luggage might have been left behind at the Guwahati airport.” He rues that because of the airline’s oversight, they were forced to miss the wedding of a close relative. Indigo official told Mirror that they were still trying to locate the bags and are hopeful to find them by Sunday. “We tried to reach out to the passengers in the evening to give them a update but they were not reachable.” the official said. In another case, 67-year-old Shyamal Joshi and four others from his family who had travelled to Tamil Nadu had to spend 10 hours at the Chennai airport after their air carrier allegedly failed to inform them of delay in flight.
The passengers allege that the airline also failed to make alternative arrangements for the passengers. Joshi said, “We boarded a flight from Madurai as per schedule and reached Chennai around 12.30 pm on Friday. We were to board the 4.35 pm SpiceJet flight to Ahmedabad. But at the airport, it was announced that the flight had been rescheduled to 9.15 pm. Later, another announcement was made that the flight would be further delayed. The airline did not give us any prior information and they had also made no alternative arrangement for the passengers of the delayed flight.”
He further claimed that the airline staff was casual about the delay of the flight and allegedly told him that it was not just his flight but other flights were also delayed or cancelled. Joshi says he checked other airlines and found that their flights were operating as per schedule. According to sources, the passengers were given the option of claiming refund on their tickets but the group refused refund.
Joshi justified this, saying, “We booked the flight two month ago, when the tickets were selling at Rs 6,000. Now, what is the point of claiming refunds when the new booking would cost me anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000? We had to spend the whole day in the airport because the boarding pass was issued and we couldn’t leave the airport.” Mirror sent emails to SpiceJet regarding the issues faced by their passengers but the airline did not respond to the mails.