Mumbai: Thousands paid as cab fares wasted amid flight cancellations

Gaurav Somani with brother-in-law Rahul Pugalia, his wife Chanchal and their baby at the airport. Pic/Satej Shinde

While some passengers got lucky and were able to go home in flights on Monday, there were many plagued by last-minute cancellations as confusion reigned at the airport. The experience was especially harrowing because travellers had to arrange for cabs and e-passes to reach the airport itself.

Rahul Pugalia and his wife Chanchal had come to Mumbai in March for her delivery in the second week of March. "On Sunday, I booked flight tickets to Hyderabad for me, my wife and our baby. We reached the airport somehow and even checked in the luggage. But then we were told that the Air India flight has been cancelled," said Pugalia at T2. His brother-in-law Gaurav Somani had come to see them off in his car.

Passengers seen at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport as domestic flights resumed on Monday. Pic/Ashish Rane

The tickets had cost the family Rs 11,000. Pugalia said that he does not have any clue about the refund either. "My employer in Hyderabad has been kind enough to give me leeway during the lockdown but I must report to work now. We were told of the cancellation just 10 minutes before the flight's scheduled time. What is this?" he said.

Another group of HR professionals wanting to go to Delhi had their Air India flights cancelled. "No SMS alert was sent. I am travelling with my mother and two friends. We had booked our flight on May 22," said Priyanka Singh, who travelled from Marine Drive to T2. "The airline has been saying that we will be accommodated on the evening flight. But by the time it reaches, it will be night and I will struggle to reach my home in East Delhi. I don't know what to do."

Her friend Vinita Chawla has a surgery scheduled in Delhi. "It was really difficult to reach the airport with no public transport. The cab driver charged R2,000 to come here from Powai," said Chawla, who shared the cab with her friend Shivangi Garg, a research analyst in Mumbai.

IT professional, Rohan Mehndidatta, travelling to Hyderabad, too paid Rs 2,000 to a cab to come from Navi Mumbai.

"My 11 am Air India flight was cancelled. Had they informed us earlier, we would not have spent so much to reach the airport. There is no facility to even sit or eat as all restaurants are shut," said Mehndidatta.

Some passengers were seen wearing PPE suits, face shields, hand gloves. Miral Bariya, an MBBS student who came to Mumbai from Malolos, Philippines where he has been studying, had to go to Daman and Diu. "I was sent to quarantine after reaching Mumbai on May 11. Air India cancelled my flight to Daman and Diu. I will wait at the airport to try and get accommodated on another flight," said Bariya.

While an Air India spokesperson said, "The schedule, which was made days ago, had to be drastically changed last night by all the airlines including Air India. Since Air India operates more flights, may be more passengers were involved or booked on these flights. So, as far as possible, though the schedule had to be changed late last night, we made it a point to reach out to all the passengers."

"I am not ruling out the fact that it caused some inconvenience to some passengers but this was because of reasons beyond our control as the entire schedule had to be redrawn late last evening (Sunday)," said the spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velarasu said, "Total 323 passengers who landed in Mumbai on May 10 have completed 14 days of quarantine. Of these, six are found positive for COVID-19. They will be retained for some more days and will be tested again."

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