Akasa chaos: Pune–Ahmedabad flight stuck sans pilot, parking bay; flyers’ 11-hour wait ends in cancellation | Pune News
PUNE: Over 150 flyers on an Ahmedabad-bound Akasa Air flight were forced to wait at Pune airport for close to 11 hours on Saturday evening following major delays, little or no information and continuous change of gate numbers. The flight (QP-1509) was scheduled to take off from Pune at 10.10pm and land in Ahmedabad at 11.45pm.Wagholi resident Sanjiv Patil was among the flyers. “I was on my way to the airport when I received a message that the flight was delayed and would fly at 11.20pm. However, after reaching the airport, the airlines told us it would fly at 11.55pm. The gate number changed from 5 to 7 and then to 9. Around 11.40pm, we were informed the flight had been deferred again and would take off at 12.30am,” Patil told TOI.He said the boarding did not happen at 12.30am either. “At 1.30am, we were told to proceed to gate number 7. We reached there to see an IndiGo flight boarding. Their staff told us the gate was occupied and another IndiGo flight’s flyers would board from the same gate. We returned to gate number 7. Passengers started to lose patience since the operator was not giving us clarity,” Patil said.He said an official told the flyers that the flight, which was to come to Pune from Delhi, was delayed due to unavailability of parking bays. Also, the pilot’s duty hours were over by the time the flight landed. Hence, he decided not to fly. “In fact, we saw the pilot leave the area. We asked the airlines to arrange a different flight for us, but they said it was not possible. Around 3.30am, it was announced that the flight was cancelled. People were given options of refunds. Some flyers checked other flights, but the last-minute fares were touching Rs 15,000,” Patil told TOI.In its statement, the airlines claimed the cancellation information was relayed to flyers at 12.30am. “Akasa Air flight QP 1509, scheduled to operate from Pune to Ahmedabad on Jan 17, was delayed because of operational reasons. Subsequently, flight duty time limitations were required to be applied to the assigned crew. We were unable to proceed with the flight in compliance with mandatory safety regulations. Our airport teams on the ground kept the passengers informed, provided refreshments and hotel accommodation. An additional flight QP 6950 was arranged for the passengers that departed Pune at 9.10am and landed in Ahmedabad at 10.45am on Jan 18,” an airline spokesperson told TOI.Flyers said refreshments were served around 5.00am. “Passengers were angry and frustrated, and arguments kept breaking out. Finally, we boarded the flight by 8.45am. Around 11.30am, I left Ahmedabad airport for my house which is around 50km away. The flyers included senior citizens, women and infants — and they all bore the brunt,” Patil added.Het Mehta, an Ahmedabad resident and another flyer, said they came to know about the cancellation of the flight via social media. “The airlines didn’t tell us anything. Some passengers were taken to a hotel in a bus which arrived half an hour late, but the hotel was full. Then they took us to another hotel. It was nearly 6am by the time we reached the hotel and had to come back to the airport for the flight at 9am,” he told TOI.
