Landing on time, stuck in flight due to ground staff strike

New Delhi: Passengers of a Kingfisher Airlines flight arriving here from Lucknow had to wait in the aircraft for at least an hour as the airline’s ground handling staff struck work.
Sources said the aircraft could not be parked at the allotted bay due to a strike by the ground handling staff. Even after the plane reached the parking bay, the ground staff refused to work. Result: passengers had to wait inside the aircraft.
“The flight, IT-205, arrived as per schedule at 5.40 pm; it landed on runway 29-11,” an airport official said. “It reached the allotted parking bay at 5.54 pm but there was no ladder for passengers to get off. The ground staff refused to work due to some internal problem.”
A passenger said, “The pilot announced that we could not de-board when we were about to land. We were told it was (due to) ram congestion. Then we were told there was a last-minute change of bay that led to the confusion.
“The aircraft landed near the allotted parking bay but it took time to reach the re-allotted bay.”
Sources said the strike lasted for at least two hours, delaying two more flights in the process.
16/12/08 Expressindia

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Dec 2008, Kingfisher Dec 2008