Pune: Rain and traffic make many passengers miss flights; grapple with delays

Satya B Subba, a passenger from Wakad, was scheduled to travel to Kolkata to attend the condolence of his close friend’s wife. He shared that the severe traffic congestion in the city caused him to miss his flight. Subba was supposed to fly on IndiGo flight 6E 671, which was set to depart at 10:55 pm. “Even though I left in a cab at 8 pm, I only reached the airport at 11:30 pm and unfortunately missed the flight,” he said.

He explained that it was an urgent trip, as his friend needed emotional and family support, but the traffic chaos on Pune’s roads prevented him from arriving on time. “Thankfully, the IndiGo staff offered me an alternative flight scheduled for 12:30 am, for which I paid around Rs 2,000 extra. There were several other passengers in the queue who also missed their flights and accepted similar offers,” he added.

Air India confirmed that around 18 passengers were unable to show up on time for flight number AI 850, scheduled to depart at 6:40 pm from Pune to Delhi. Additionally, two other flights had two passengers each who missed their flights.

Air India Express also confirmed that around five passengers failed to arrive on time for flight 1132, scheduled to depart from Pune to Bengaluru at 7:35 am, due to the traffic caused by the rain.

While Vistara declined to provide exact numbers they confirmed there were passengers who failed to show up at the boarding gate.

While Pune Airport Director Santosh Dhoke denied any service disruptions or delays, many passengers complained about delayed flights, although they were assisted by the airlines.

Ranjit Kadam, a passenger who was supposed to take Air India flight AI 0854, scheduled to depart at 9:55 pm from Pune to Canada via Delhi, ultimately decided to cancel his trip after arriving at the airport at 12:20 am. He expressed frustration over the traffic and road conditions in Pune, which caused his journey from his home in Bavdhan to the airport to take 5 hours and 45 minutes.

“Although I arrived late, Air India too kept rescheduling the flight. It was initially set for 9:55 pm, then pushed to 10:30, 11:30, and finally departed at 12:55 am. I was informed by the Air India staff that I could still board the flight, but I would have to wait 24 hours in Delhi as my connecting flight had already left. That’s when I decided to cancel my travel plans,” he said.

“Since the airline delayed the flights, they refunded me for both my tickets: Pune to Delhi and Delhi to Canada. I missed my meeting with clients in Canada, so I will now be traveling to New York on Saturday,” Kadam added.

Another passenger, Mukesh Tank, took to X (formerly Twitter) to complain about the delay in his flight, tweeting, “@IndiGo 6E 547 from Pune to Ahmedabad was delayed, and though I had a fractured leg, the ground staff didn’t care and made me wait in the queue for 45 minutes.”

In response, IndiGo’s customer service team replied, stating, “Sir, we truly regret to note your experience. Please allow us sometime while we get this checked with our concerned team. We’ll connect with you shortly….”