Jet jolt: Passengers pay heavy price

Departure terminal 1B at Mumbai airport had more passengers exiting than entering on Tuesday. With Jet Airways pilots taking mass sick leave,
around 50 departures were cancelled at the airport, which affected more than 4,000 passengers. Jet appeared ill-prepared to deal with the sudden unavailability of pilots. While some passengers were offered refunds or seats on other carriers, none were informed in advance about cancellations. Most were left running from pillar to post to book tickets with other airlines. Low-cost carriers had a gala time charging almost double their usual rates for instant tickets.
"Till we reached the airport, the Jet Airways call centre kept telling us the flight was confirmed. The situation was completely different when we reached here. The flight was cancelled and we were offered a refund or another flight later in the day,'' said Leena Devlani, who had come to drop her 88-year-old aunt for a Mumbai-Delhi flight.
The Ludhani family, however, was not so lucky. Their two twin sons Hitesh and Haresh were scheduled to go to Kochi by 9W 2103 for ayurvedic treatment. The Ludhanis spent more than two hours haggling with airline officials before booking another set of tickets through their travel agent. "We have been told there are no seats available on alternative flights arranged by Jet. The only ticket available is on GoAir at Rs 9,000 per head,'' said the senior Ludhani. "There is a car waiting for them at Kochi, the doctors have been arranged and hotel rooms have been booked there. It would cost us much more if my two children do not reach there in time,'' he added. The Ludhanis later purchased Kingfisher tickets for almost double the amount of their Jet tickets.
09/09/09 Times of India

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

Categories: Jet Airways Sep 2009