Passengers fume at Air India callousness

Mumbai: On Friday afternoon, passengers on board the Mumbai-Delhi Air India (AI) flight were surprised when the plane didn’t take off even an hour after they had boarded. But their impatience soon turned to annoyance when they were informed that the runway was closed for its weekly maintenance.
“What amused me was that for the longest time the crew wasn’t aware that the runway was shut for maintenance,” said Dr Anjan Ray, a business leader with a multi-national company.
On Friday, Ray boarded AI’s Mumbai-Delhi flight IC 166 at 12.55pm. “Around 12.30 pm the airline announced that the flight would be taking off on time and then we started boarding,” said Ray.
“Around 40-50 passengers boarded the flight. However, even after we were seated, the doors remained open. After nearly an hour, the aircraft was still in the bay and was not pushed back. We were wondering why the flight was delayed when the captain of the flight walked in at 1.45pm,” he added.
The captain and the crew then informed the disgruntled passengers that the airport was closed for runway maintenance from 12.30 pm to 1.45 pm on every Friday.
An MIAL official said all airlines were aware that runway was closed for maintenance on Fridays.
15/11/08 Navita Singh/Daliy News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Domestic Nov 2008, Airports Nov 2008, NACIL Nov 2008