Suspected bird hit disrupts Air India Express Pune-Chandigarh flight

Efforts were made to rectify the technical snag, but the flight was eventually called off, and passengers were disembarked.

A passenger who was on board took to X to describe the ordeal. “Flyers were kept waiting inside the aircraft for three hours before being informed of the cancellation. The airline didn’t offer an alternate flight, and the staff were unwilling to come and address passenger concerns directly. Though the ground staff communicated, no one took accountability,” he said, adding that a trip planned over several years had been ruined, at a cost of Rs 90,000.

Responding to the allegations, Air India Express said, “Passenger safety remains our highest priority, and such decisions are taken only in the interest of safe operations.” The airline also acknowledged the inconvenience caused to passengers.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and completely understand the frustration regarding the prolonged wait onboard and the subsequent flight cancellation due to a technical issue,” noting that “refreshments, along with options for rescheduling and full refunds without any additional charge, had been offered to affected passengers.”

This is not the first such disruption for Air India Express in recent weeks. On August 19, a similar incident had occurred when an Air India Express flight from Amritsar to Pune was cancelled after the aircraft reportedly suffered a suspected bird hit shortly after take-off. According to airline sources, flight was scheduled to depart Amritsar at 4:25 am and land in Pune at 6:55 am.

“However, the aircraft was forced to return to Amritsar after a suspected bird strike and was later withdrawn from service for technical inspection. As a result, the flight was cancelled and did not operate to Pune,” an airline source said. The cancellation also had a cascading effect, forcing the airline to call off a subsequent Pune-Delhi service that was to be operated by the same aircraft.