JOIN USSpiceJet leaves passengers high and dry at International Airport
Troubled domestic airliner, SpiceJet had about a hundred stranded passengers in a tizzy at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) for the second day here on Wednesday.
Clueless about alternate flights, struggling for information, the passengers were left to fend for themselves, some of them with acute medical conditions that required emergency travel.
KIA sources said SpiceJet had only two departures, one to New Delhi and another to Kolkata, besides two arrivals. Although the number of passengers was considerably lesser than Wednesday, at least a hundred of them had turned up on Wednesday. Since there was no clarity on the changed flight schedules, many could be seen waiting outside. None of them were issued boarding passes.
Many had booked their travel several days and weeks in advance. SpiceJet’s sudden cancellation of the bulk of its 24 to 26 daily schedules meant the passengers would suffer.
Last-minute bookings
However, most of them could not afford last-minute bookings in other airlines as such tickets are often too expensive.
Particularly affected was a passenger, whose son had a medical condition and had to be shifted quickly to New Delhi.
Since the media had been highlighting SpiceJet’s acute problems in continuing with flight operations, many passengers had decided not to go to the airport at all.
A KIA official said a majority of business travellers from Bengaluru had got their bookings altered through their companies.
However, individual passengers had no such support.
Major issues
Among those waiting outside the SpiceJet counters were Ravishankar and Shakti, both of whom had major issues with total lack of communication from the airline’s side. A few passengers did get SMS messages from the airline about flight delays. However, the plans were not adhered to. Eventually, they were faced with a board at the airline’s counter that merely said SpiceJet had shut down.
On Tuesday, an even bigger chaos had reigned at the airport as most travellers were caught unawares by the sudden escalation of SpiceJet’s financial troubles. An estimated 1,000 passengers were affected following the cancellation of SpiceJet’s 17 arrivals and 19 departures.