Chaos on Day 1 of runway shutdown proves airlines' promises were broken. Expect...
Chaos on Day 1 of runway shutdown proves airlines' promises were broken. Expect...
On Monday, all airlines MiD DAY spoke to, with the exception of Kingfisher, had insisted that their flights would not be affected by Tuesday's runway repair work at the Mumbai airport.
But yesterday, when one runway was completely shut down and the only other one partially closed for six hours, not only did the same airlines cancel and reschedule flights, they also remained unavailable for comment.
Monday's assurances, said airline sources, were made so that passengers did not cancel tickets and demand refunds.
Flying tempers
Passengers were understandably furious at the ensuing chaos.
"The airline office was not staffed adequately. They did not inform me about the rescheduling of the flight and now they want me to pay extra because I am travelling on a different flight.
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Broken Promises: Jet Airways passengers were inconvenienced yesterday even though the airlines had earlier said that flight schedules would not be affected by the runway's closure. |
Thanks to this confusion, I will miss my cousin's wedding in Chennai," said Anuradha Kulkarni (50), who was flying to Chennai on a Jet Airways flight.
Singer Vasundhara Das, who was at the airport to receive a friend, said she was appalled at the lack of planning.
"I understand that the runways were shut to facilitate repairs, but this chaos could have been avoided with some planning," she added.
On Monday, the Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) had announced that the airport would be closed for six hours every Tuesday till March 2010 to facilitate construction work on the runways.
No airline spokespersons, except for Srirupa Sen of Jet Airways, could be contacted yesterday despite repeated attempts. (See: What airlines promised, what they delivered).
What Airlines Promised, What They DeliveredAir India
Monday: "MIAL informed us of Tuesday's shutdown six months ago, so we're planning the u00a0flight schedule accordingly. There is absolutely no reason u00a0for cancellations," said u00a0Jitendra Bhargava, executive director, Air India.
Tuesday: 12 Air India flights were cancelled. Four of their flights were rescheduled.
Bhargava remained unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.
Jet and Go AirMonday: Jet Airways spokesperson Srirupa Sen and Go Air spokesperson Carolina Bajaj had confirmed that their flights would not be affected by yesterday's closure.u00a0
Tuesday: "Jet Airways rescheduled four flights to Saturday, and recombined passengers on the remaining 21 flights," admitted Sen.
While Go Air services were behind time, the extent to which the services were affected could not be ascertained. Bajaj remained unavailable for comment.u00a0u00a0
Kingfisher
Prakash Mirpuri, the official spokesperson of Kingfisher Airlines, had admitted that u00a0flights would be cancelled. He was, in fact, the only one u00a0who admitted to the possibility.
Cool Cab Business goes ThandaThe number of cool cabs that service the departures section of the Mumbai airport have gone down from 300 to a mere 50, thanks to disruptive incidents like the Jet Airways pilots' strike in August, the Air India pilots' strike in September and the ongoing reconstruction of the two runways at the airport.
Said Dinesh Shukla, a cool cab driver, "My daily income has plummeted from Rs 500 to Rs 300."
Another cabbie Ashok Tiwari said he had not had a single passenger for eight hours. "I should have stuck to driving in the city. Coming to the airport was a mistake," he said.
