Airline Fined Rs 50,000 After Six-Hour Delay and Lack of Water for Stranded Passengers

Business News: If your flight flies late, now you can not only wait but also get justice. Actually, this is what happened at Delhi airport, where two passengers who arrived on time will now get a compensation of Rs 50,000 for being made to sit for hours late, without AC and without any facilities. This order has been given by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of South-West Delhi, which found Alliance Air guilty of deficiency in service.

Passengers remained hungry and thirsty for hours

The matter is of 5 June 2022. Two female passengers named Mainavati Devi and Shakuntala Devi reached the airport at 8 am to go from Delhi to Gorakhpur. The flight time was 11:30 am, but the plane took off at 5:30 pm. Boarding was done by 10:45 am. At 1 pm the plane was taken towards the runway, but after a while it was brought back and parked again.

The passengers were asked to get down from the plane. After that, no information was given for four hours as to when the flight would take off. The passengers allege that during this time neither air conditioning was running, nor water was given, nor any snacks.

The airline refused to pay compensation

After the incident, on June 6, both the women sent a written complaint to Alliance Air and mentioned mental harassment, abusive behavior and poor service. The airline responded on June 17 and refused to pay compensation. After this, both of them approached the Consumer Commission.

The airline will now have to pay compensation

A bench of commission chairman Suresh Kumar Gupta and member Harshali Kaur found that the airline ignored basic passenger facilities. The order said that once boarding had started, the plane should have been technically ready. The delay was not due to weather, nor was there any hindrance in air traffic clearance. In such a situation, not giving information to the passengers, not providing food and water, and making them wait for hours - all these are serious deficiencies in service.

The commission also said that the passengers suffered mental stress, humiliation and inconvenience for which they should be compensated. Along with this, the commission ordered that Alliance Air should pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to both the passengers—this includes mental agony, harassment and litigation expenses.