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Taken for a ride by Air India

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI APRIL 25. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded and sulking at Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Friday as six Air India flights from Delhi were cancelled after some "unionised'' pilots decided to stay off work protesting against the authorities' inability to certify if the crew members had been to SARS-affected countries over the past 10 days.

Though the passengers who reached the airport were lodged in nearby hotels after being told that the flights had been cancelled, it did not pacify them as their requests for being accommodated on other airlines were rejected.

``I checked up with several airlines and was told that there were about 60 executive class seats and two economy seats available on Air France and Lufthansa. But Air India refused to adjust us saying it would not pay the 50-pound difference,'' said an agitated London-bound Arun Batra.

Lodged at Centaur Hotel along with 194 other passengers, Mr. Batra was just one of those who had numerous complaints against the airline and the hotel. Charanjit Singh, another passenger of the cancelled IC-121 flight which was to depart at 8-45 this morning, said though cancellation amounted to violation of contract by Air India, it refused to upgrade the seats.

What also peeved the passengers, particularly V. Pillai, was that until 6 this morning the information centre kept insisting that the flight was on time. It was only when the passengers reached the check-in counter that they were told the flight was off. Lamenting the all-round lack of information, Nirmal Juttla said her sister was told in London this afternoon that the passengers would be reaching there by IC-101 and IC-129 at 3-30 p.m. (IST) when actually they were stranded here!

Also, she said the attitude of the staffers at the airport and the hotel was very bad. "First senior Air India officials were missing and there was no one to authoritatively answer queries. Then those involved in shifting baggage wanted tips and the hotel staff wanted money for room service and even water.''

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