Flights late, airline ‘hides’

New Delhi: Hundreds of passengers including diabetics spent up to 18 hours without food or sleep at Delhi airport as Air India officials “hid” from them after announcing massive delays.
Security officials called in an airport doctor to attend to the aged and ailing among those abandoned in the security area, where no food is available.
Overall, nearly 1,000 passengers were stranded without help — or even information — after Air India flights to Dubai, Muscat, Qatar, New York, Shanghai and Toronto were delayed.
At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Mohammed Aftab said: “I have been here since last evening. I still don’t know when my flight to Dubai will leave. It is almost 24 hours.”
“Only a few junior officials are present (and they) have no information or authority,” said passenger Jagdish Sharma. The Air India assistance booth at the departure lounge was deserted.
“There was no airline official to address passenger complaints,” an airport official confirmed.He said the crew of the Qatar-bound flight “went into hiding” after announcing a delay to passengers who were already seated in the aircraft.
An Air India spokesperson claimed the delays were between one and five hours. He blamed them on “technical reasons, congestion at the check-in counters and unavailability of the bay”.
19/11/07 The Telegraph

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