John Wilbert & Vikramaditya
Port Blair, June 04: This morning, a Vistara flight travelling from Delhi to Kolkata, and eventually to Port Blair, was unable to land at Port Blair airport due to adverse weather conditions. As a result, the flight was redirected to Chennai, where all passengers safely disembarked. But many raised questions as to why the flight from Kolkata was diverted to Chennai and not Kolkata when the flight had originated from Kolkata.
According to reports, the flight schedule in the Port Blair sector was disrupted due to the inclement weather conditions prevailing at the time. The Vistara flight, which departed from Delhi at approximately 6:30 AM, was bound for Kolkata before proceeding to Port Blair and from Kolkata many passengers boarded the flight for Port Blair. However, upon reaching Port Blair Airport at around 11:15 AM, the flight was unable to land and was consequently rerouted to Chennai for refuelling.
After the flight was rerouted, Passengers were shocked when the flight authorities announced that instead of returning to Kolkata, the flight would land in Chennai. Passengers after reaching Chennai raised objections and requested accommodation in Chennai, but were met with alleged unprofessional and rude behavior from the airline’s ground staff. This unnecessary harassment led to a few passengers refusing to continue their journey to Kolkata, as they were already tired because of the four to seven hour long journey.
Passengers were told that an additional flight will be provided for them from Chennai to Kolkata today and accommodation will be provided at Kolkata but passengers argued why they are again taken to Kolkata, when the flight has already reached Chennai.
Many passengers demanded accommodation at Chennai and a flight from Chennai to Port Blair tomorrow as they do not want to take another flight today. When their request was not entertained some passengers got down at Chennai and refused to fly to Kolkata again.
Mr. M. Vinod, the President of the Andaman Association of Tour Operators, who was also in the flight expressed his disappointment, stating, “The services provided by the Vistara staff at Chennai Airport were the worst and highly unprofessional. The behavior of their staff was rude and demeaning. I am highlighting this matter with utmost concern, and if justice is not served, we will not hesitate to file a case against Vistara Airlines. Their staff seemed fearless and displayed a complete lack of professionalism.” Vistara Airlines officials were unavailable for a comment.
