Air India cancels flight 5 hours after flyers board plane

Air India passengers stranded at Vancouver airport

The passengers of Air India flight AI186 from Vancouver to Delhi were left frustrated as their flight was cancelled after they had boarded and sat on the plane for more than five hours. The flight - which had been experiencing delays since March 24 - was finally cancelled on Monday (March 25). According to passengers, Air India did not adhere to the stipulated wait-time norms and failed to provide adequate accommodation, affecting around 300 passengers.

Air India check-in counters without any staff present

Passengers expressed their dissatisfaction with the handling of the situation, criticising Air India for the lack of communication and support during their ordeal. Many passengers had been eagerly waiting to return to Delhi and those looking to board domestic connecting flights to various parts of India were further inconvenienced by the sudden cancellation of the flight.

Kedar Sharma, a passenger on the flight said, "This is really irritating and very disappointing. I will never book an Air India flight again. The Vancouver (Canada) flight AI186 to Delhi was cancelled after we sat in the plane for five hours." Another passenger said, "No refreshments were provided to us during the five hours of in-flight delay. It was very frustrating. I had to miss my connecting flight from Delhi to Mumbai due to this delay."

An Air India official said, "The flight was delayed due to technical issues. For those willing to opt for a cancellation, the refund process has been initiated. However, those who opted for a rescheduled flight were left stranded as the flight will be taking off from Canada at 1 pm on March 26. Hotel accommodation was provided to such passengers."