Chennai: Private airlines seem to be making the most out of the Air India pilot strike.
Sources at the airport said private carriers are refusing seats for Air India so that they can sell these seats at exorbitant rates to passengers who are desperate to fly.
Air India issues an endorsement to passengers to fly by a private carrier using the same ticket when a flight gets cancelled because of the strike. The airline's commercial staff checks with private carriers whether seats are available before issuing the endorsement. But, some of the private carriers, in the last two days, have started misleading Air India that their flights are full even though seats are available.
"This is an arrangement followed by full-service carriers when a flight gets cancelled. However, after seeing an opportunity to sell the seats for a good price, many of the private carriers do not prefer us to issue endorsements,'' said an Air India official. This trend is seen in lucrative sectors such asChennai-Mumbai and Chennai-Delhi.
When the Air India asked Jet Airways to accommodate a few passengers on its Mumbai flight on Saturday, the airline staff maintained that the flight was full. "But, they sold a couple of seats in the same flight at Rs 18,000,'' said an airport official.
A passenger who had to board a connecting flight to Newark purchased the ticket for Rs 18,000 because he could not afford to miss the international flight from Mumbai.
02/05/11 V Ayyappan/Times of India
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