A Bengaluru woman slammed Air India after the airline rescheduled a Delhi-San Francisco flight from August 18 to August 22 without prior notice.
“High-handedness by @airindia on another level. Delhi-SFO flight booked for 18th August has been arbitrarily cancelled and the passengers were offered to fly on the 22nd August,” Loveleen Arun, Bengaluru-based travel influencer, said in her post on X on August 12.
In her post, Arun said that passengers protested over the rescheduling following which Air India offered an alternative flight on August 17, but with a complicated route - Delhi-Mumbai-San Francisco - instead.
The passengers, many of whom were already in Bengaluru, requested for a Bengaluru-Mumbai-San Francisco flight to avoid a 10-hour layover in Delhi, but Air India "categorically denied" their request.
“When they said that is not acceptable they have been given Delhi-mumbai-SFO on 17th Aug. Passengers have pleaded that they will be in Bangalore and this would mean flying Blr - Delhi (having a 10 hour layover) and then taking delhi-mumbai- SFO and instead to give them Blr-mumbai-sfo which has been categorically denied by @airindia.”
Enraged over the matter, she lashed out at Air India, saying: "First you cancel flights at whim and then don’t try even a slight bit to help your clients. Just no empathy whatsoever!! Money lost in booking, cancelling, and re-booking domestic flights is another matter altogether.”
In response to Loveleen's post, Air India apologised for the inconvenience and requested her booking details to investigate the matter further.
However, in a follow-up post, Loveleen shared her continued dissatisfaction with the airline's customer service.
"Inept call centre guys from Air India call the clients and say "Sorry we cannot change this ticket as seats from Mumbai to SFO are not available" - whereas they have changed the PNR and confirmed DEL-BOM-SFO."
Been going in circles. What is up, Air India," she questioned.
The post, shared a few hours ago on Monday, has clocked over 21,000 views so far.
Social media users also resonated with Loveleen's frustration, citing the inconvenience of cancelled international flights and noting the financial strain caused by delayed refunds and the higher cost of last-minute bookings.
"One of the things I find worse in these cancelled international flights is how long that large amount of money is stuck. Because you make a last-minute transaction, the fares are high and the refund takes a long time. And by the time the bill comes at the end of the month, it’s for both the amounts and takes a toll if you are on a cash crunch issue," a user said.
Another added: "This is unusual! One would imagine that BLR-BOM-SFO would be easier for them to provide as there is a direct connector."
The incident triggered a discussion on social media about the challenges and financial burdens passengers face when international flights are abruptly cancelled or rescheduled.
Source: India Today