Seoul: The Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) in South Korea has urged Air India to take immediate action to address the persistent flight delays on routes between India and South Korea. IOC’s South Korea chapter president Kislay Kumar raised concerns about the lack of accountability from Air India and the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and also the denial of compensation to passengers who have been affected by the delays.
According to passengers, flights frequently get delayed for a few hours every week. The last two weeks have seen cumulative flight delays of nearly 15 hours in just three days. The flight delays have caused severe disruptions to passengers' travel plans, Kumar said, adding that in some cases, passengers have missed connecting flights, incurred financial losses, and faced immense inconveniences.
Passengers say no specific reason is ever provided by Air India for the delays. Kumar, demanded proper documents from Air India, specifying the reasons for the delay of his flight. However, Air India dismissed the demand, brushing it off, citing “operational reasons”.
On July 2 at the Delhi airport, it was conveyed to the passengers that due to lack of crew, the flight was delayed. But inside the aircraft, the captain mentioned that the delay was caused due to a technical issue and in a response to the tweet, Air India said it was due to operational reasons. Such deviation of responses by the airline confuses passengers, Kumar said.
Kumar also expressed concerns about the safety of the aircraft. "On July 2, the flight from Delhi to Seoul was delayed for three hours because there was no captain to fly the plane," he said. On July 9, the Incheon-Delhi flight was 10 hours late, he said.
As compensation, Air India provided a small water bottle and a juice packet on July 2, while on July 9, they provided a food coupon to passengers as compensation for the 10-hour delay.
The Indian Overseas Congress-South Korea has now initiated an online petition, demanding punctuality and transparency from Air India.
Kumar said the aviation ministry must prioritise this matter and implement necessary reforms to ensure the timely and reliable operation of Air India flights. He also said that passengers need to know why their flights are delayed, and that they deserve to be compensated for their inconvenience.
The Indian Overseas Congress-South Korea is a support base of the Indian National Congress and functions as a social and cultural group.
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