Technical snag delays flight by 3 hours

According to the circular,passengers whose flight has been delayed by over 2 hours,with a block time of 2.5 hours would qualify for a compensation of Rs 2,000. But the airline would not have to pay if they can prove that the delay (or the cancellation) was due to extraordinary reasons such as “political instability,natural disaster,civil war,insurrection or riot,flood,explosion,government regulation or order affecting the aircraft,strikes and labour disputes causing cessation,slowdown or interruption of work or any other factors that are beyond the control of the airline”. The airline is also off the hook if the delay is due to Air Traffic Control.

In today’s incident,the airline spokesperson said the flight was delayed due to a technical fault in the aircraft. On July 1 too,the same flight had developed a technical snag and had been delayed by around 3 hours.

The DGCA policy also talks about ‘a no-show policy’,where passengers lose their ticket money if they do not show up for the flight. On the other hand,airlines would have to compensate passengers if they cancel a flight without informing the passenger 3 hours in advance and also if they over book a flight.