No more 'good times' for Kingfisher flyers

Travellers fume as flights hit for third day

Kingfisher Airlines operations continued to be disrupted for the third consecutive day, causing inconvenience to fliers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport with cancellation of seven flights on Monday.

Passengers complained about getting information about the cancellation of flights only after reaching the airport. Others, diverted to Delhi to take international flights, complained of non-cooperation.

“We had to take a flight from Kolkata to Bangkok at 10 am. After informing that the Bankok flight has been cancelled, the Airlines officials put us on an Air India flight for Delhi saying we will be put on a Bangkok flight from Delhi. Now they are making an arrangement with Thai Airways, which has a scheduled flight at 9:30 pm,” said Ramsamajh Yadav, who is on a business trip along with two other colleagues.  The trio said they have already cancelled some of their important appointments which were scheduled late in the evening.

“Our entire tour itinerary has gone haywire. I have postponed some of my appointments for Tuesday. We have our return tickets booked for Tuesday evening. We left home at 5 am,” said Yadav. The airlines had not served them any food, he said.

Passengers who were to board cancelled flights, accused the Airlines of being unprofessional. “I have been following the issue over the last two days. Why can’t they inform passengers in advance? It is difficult to believe that they do not know which flight they are going to cancel when they claim they are dealing with an issue which is much more serious than routine operational delays. We would have made some alternate arrangements,” said Fujung, a Guwahati-bound passenger who was on way to his hometown with his wife to attend a marriage on Monday evening. 

According to sources, Kingfisher is operating 16 of its 64 aircraft. Half of its senior pilots have quit in the last three months, while other employees have not received their salaries for three months. The Airlines has pulled up by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for not giving prior information about the cancellations.