Air India ‘ill-treatment’ irks passengers

Passengers on an Air India flight that was forced to land due to technical problems are alleging ill-treatment by the crew and staff, claiming they were kept waiting in cramped conditions without food or water until they were accommodated into alternative flights.

A technical snag detected mid-air forced the pilot of AI571 from Chennai to Mumbai to land again at the Chen- nai airport, 45 minutes after taking off from there on 6 July. Though the airline confirmed a “minor technical problem in the flight” that forced it to return to Chennai, it has denied being aware of any allegations against the crew.

“Passengers were disembarked and accommodated in other flights. But we have not yet received any complaints of ill-treatment. We are not aware of it till now,” an Air India spokesperson told The Sunday Guardian on Saturday evening.

But The Sunday Guardian has copies of complaints written to the managing director of Air India, Delhi, the Aviation Minister and the Prime Minister, dated 8 July.

Vishnu Gavali, a social activist from Navi Mumbai, was travelling on the flight with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter.

Gavali says that after the flight landed in Chennai, all 200 or so passengers were loaded onto two buses, where they had to wait until the alternate flights started boarding.

“We were kept in the dark about the technical snag. No information was given to us. My daughter kept crying for water, but the crew refused to serve us. They behaved very rudely,” Gavali said. He told The Sunday Guardian that he intends to approach the court if the airline fails to take action against the crew.

“My daughter was not given water for more than 20 minutes. We were distressed to see this. We did not have