When Air India decided to discontinue its direct Amritsar-Toronto flight service from October 31,diverting it via Delhi,locals had staged large-scale protests in anticipation of inconvenience. They did not know their fear would come true from Day One of the new arrangement,with the flight never taking off or landing on time in the last fortnight. At times,the delay is up to five hours,leading to agitations by passengers at both Terminal-3 of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi and the local Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport. The worst affected are the passengers who have to catch various other international flights from Delhi. Earlier,Canada-bound passengers used to board the plane here after completing all immigration formalities. But now they have to change the plane in Delhi,losing hours in transit. It is a nightmare to travel by this flight. I travelled to Delhi twice in the last one week and on both occasions the flight was late by three to four hours, said Sukhjinder Singh Heir,a local resident. The scheduled departure time of the Amritsar-Delhi flight is 10.30 pm,which is rarely adhered to. On an average,it takes off at 12.30 pm or even later. The Delhi-Amritsar flight is scheduled to arrive here at 7.30 pm,but the flight has not taken off on time even once in the last 15 days. This flight,too,is usually late by three to four hours. Protests by passengers took an ugly turn on November 16 when they raised slogans against the national carrier at IGI T3 and even sat on a dharna. We protested because we had been waiting for over six hours for the flight to take off. AI authorities do not even inform the passengers about the possible delay. They have to fend for themselves at the two airports where there is no facility of food and water, said Sawinder Singh Virdi. Admitting the delays,officials assured corrective measures. Air India Manager (Amritsar) Shashi Kant Kaundal said they were making every effort to run the flight on time. When the flight from Delhi gets late,it directly affects the return flight, he said,adding that the delays would be checked in the coming days. The national carrier has,meanwhile,maintained that it has been battling a huge shortage of staff and cabin crew to match up to the new expectations ever since it shifted the domestic operations to the new integrated Terminal 3. Air India flights have been getting delayed since October 31. An airline spokesperson,however,said the situation was much better on Monday. All our flights operated on time on Monday. Delhi has been made the hub port with our new hub-and-spoke policy adopted from this winter schedule,starting October 31. All our international flights go from Delhi,and passengers from other domestic destinations take connecting flights,while we strive to minimise the connecting time, said the official. The passengers,meanwhile,demand that the AI should not only compensate them for the delays and the losses incurred by them after missing the connecting flights,but it should also give them deserving treatment at the airports. If the flight is delayed,there should be arrangements for food and drinking water or beverages, said Jasjit Singh,a Merchant Navy executive.Kaundal,however,said they did take care of their passengers and would take further steps to improve the service. With ENS,New Delhi
