Passengers on a SpiceJet flight heading for Bengaluru had to wait for a long time at the Delhi airport's aerobridge on Tuesday, with the airline claiming the flight was delayed due to weather disruption, which caused entering personnel to exceed their duty time limit.
One of the passengers posted a video on social media depicting a large group of co-passengers waiting at the aerobridge. Some of them can be heard asking for water in the footage.
The incident occurred on SpiceJet flight SG 8133 from Delhi to Bengaluru.
According to a SpiceJet spokesperson, the flight was delayed due to network weather disruption and the aircraft's previous rotation.
"As a result, the incoming crew was not legal to operate the succeeding flight to Bengaluru, and the crew was allocated from another incoming flight that was legal due to duty time limitations," the spokesperson said in a statement, according to a PTI report.
According to the statement, after passing through security, passengers were asked to wait at the aerobridge, as stated in the report.
"Passengers on the lower floor near the aircraft door and aerobridge passage were provided water. The video was shot outside of the boarding gate which had limited access. All passengers on the said flight were provided service recovery vouchers," it added.
Furthermore, the airline stated that the usual turnaround time for a Boeing aircraft at Delhi airport is 40-45 minutes and that this particular trip took around 20 minutes longer than the average turnaround time.
Spicejet joins a long list of Indian airlines that have recently made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Recently, a Go First flight from Bengaluru to Delhi took off without 55 passengers. After their stuff was carried aboard the aeroplane, they were trapped in a bus on the tarmac.
Passengers tweeted about the incident, which brought it to light.
Go First Airlines, which came under fire on Tuesday for reportedly leaving over fifty people behind in a bus at Bengaluru airport on Monday, issued an official apology statement, citing the incident as 'inadvertent oversight'.
Air India has been the hardest hit, with two incidences of people peeing inside its planes mid-flight going viral, prompting the aviation regulator DCGA to intervene and take action against the Tata-owned airline.
IndiGo, Go First, and Vistara was all in the news for a variety of reasons, including disgruntled passengers, mismanagement, technical issues in flight, bogus bomb threats, and aircraft leaving several passengers behind.
(With Inputs From Agencies)