Eight months after a Bengaluru citizen missed his international flight to Switzerland due to a delay in a domestic flight, a consumer court in Karnataka has ordered Air India to pay Rs 2.08 lakh to the passenger. The court held the airline liable for “deficiency in service and unfair trade practice”.
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Jitender Kumar from ITI Layout in Bengaluru missed his September 15, 2023 flight to Switzerland due to a delay in an Air India flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Bengaluru on May 22 ordered Air India to pay the compensation to Jitender Kumar, a resident of ITI Layout in Bengaluru. The court stated that “being a reputed airline,” Air India “should have taken the initiative” to arrange another flight in time for Kumar.
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The court stated that being a reputed airline,” Air India “should have taken the initiative to arrange another flight in time for Kumar
According to Kumar’s complaint, on September 14, 2023, he was scheduled to board a Bengaluru-Mumbai Air India flight at 9:24 pm. However, due to a delay in the domestic flight, he missed his connecting international flight to Zurich, Switzerland, which was scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 6:40 am on September 15. This sequence of events formed the basis of Kumar’s complaint and ultimately led to the court’s decision.
The Incident
Mr Jitender Kumar, a resident of ITI Layout in Bengaluru, encountered a significant inconvenience when he missed his scheduled flight to Switzerland on September 15, 2023. During check-in, Mr Kumar was informed of a delay in the boarding time, which had been rescheduled to 10:50 pm. Faced with the possibility of missing his flight to Zurich, Mr Kumar sought assistance from Air India staff for an alternative flight to Mumbai. The Air India staff reassured him that an alternative flight would be arranged within the designated time frame, with boarding commencing as soon as the aircraft arrived in Bengaluru from Mumbai.
Despite the arrival of Flight AI 641 in Bengaluru at 1:58 am on September 15, boarding for AI 642 (Bengaluru-Mumbai) did not promptly commence. The flight would have departed 55 minutes after it arrived in Bengaluru, as the usual schedule entails arrival at 8:30 pm and departure for Mumbai at 9:25 pm. However, an unforeseen delay of over three hours ensued. Consequently, Mr Kumar missed his international flight, which departed from Mumbai as initially scheduled.
