PUNE: Around 150 passengers bound for Pune on SpiceJet flight SG-939 from Delhi endured an ordeal stretching from Monday evening into Tuesday afternoon after repeated delays, hours inside a sweltering aircraft and an eventual flight cancellation.The airline had to arrange another flight around 3pm on Tuesday for the flyers. For a Delhi-based working professional, Rahul Singh, his business trip to Pune stretched for over 24 hours. The flight was scheduled to take-off at 4.55pm on Monday and land at Pune around 7.35pm.Singh said his ordeal began on Monday when the flight was first rescheduled to 9.15pm.“Many of us reached the airport by 7m on Monday for the flight. Then the flight was again pushed to 11.45pm. I boarded the aircraft at 11.50pm, and when the boarding was complete, there was no pilot. The pilot came only after 20 minutes,” he told TOI.“After a while, the cabin crew informed us that the ATC was not permitting them to take off. While we waited, the crew again told us that there was a technical problem with the aircraft,” he said.It was very hot, he explained, and suffocating inside the aircraft since the engines were not on. Flyers remained seated and started to lose their patience, especially in the back seats, he said.“An external auxiliary power unit to run the air conditioners was fixed, but it was not enough. From around 12midnight until around 3.10am, flyers remained boarded on the aircraft without any proper information. The heat was too much for many to bear. Many flyers deboarded and stood at tarmac around 3.20am,” the flyer added.What followed was a series of arguments, altercations and near-fight scenarios with the ground staff.“It almost came to blows, and the CISF had to intervene. Around 4.10am, it was announced that the flight had been cancelled. All the flyers were asked to return to terminal building and take our luggage around 5am,” he said.Singh said the flyers were then given accommodation in a hotel at Mahipalpur in Delhi. We were informed that a flight would be flying [to Pune] at 2.50pm on Tuesday, he said.SpiceJet attributed the hassle to a technical issue.“On July 27, SpiceJet flight SG-939, scheduled to operate from Delhi to Pune, was initially delayed and subsequently cancelled due to a technical issue identified before departure. The airline operated an additional flight to accommodate all affected passengers to minimise inconvenience. SpiceJet sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers,” an airline spokesperson told TOI.On Tuesday, flyers got two further intimations of rescheduling. “As we reached the airport, the flight was delayed again. In the first intimation, it was said the flight would fly at 4.50pm. Then, after some time, another message landed stating it would now fly at 5.20pm. This is nothing, but pure harassment,” Singh said.He told TOI that the flight, however, took off at 3.30pm and landed in Pune at 5.50pm. “I never imagined I will reach Pune a day late. It is shocking for me,” he said.
