The strike by 12,000 Air India (AI) employees — who belonged to Indian earlier — on Wednesday led to cancellation of 76 flights across the country, including 37 from Mumbai.
Passengers were caught unawares and they had to either cancel their journey or seek an alternative airline by paying hefty amounts.
When the team of 25 players of Rugby India came to terminal 1B at Santa Cruz on Wednesday morning to catch the IC Mumbai-Delhi flight, they did not know what to do.
“We were in Pune for a month-long practice session for the five nation rugby championship to be held from June 2,” said Happy Singh, a player. “When we reached here we got to know that our flight has been cancelled. Now we are trying to arrange tickets on other airlines.”
Vishwanath Siddagangaiah, 33, a doctor from Bangalore reached Mumbai this morning by AI’s Bangalore-Mumbai flight and was to catch an AI Mumbai-Raipur flight. “When we inquired with the airline at Bangalore about the status of our Raipur flight, they said it was on time. But when we reached here, they told us that the flight hadbeen cancelled,” he said.
His misery did not end at this. He had to shell out three times more than the normal amount for a Jetlite Mumbai-Raipur flight that is to leave on May 27. “AI refunded me Rs3,000 of my Mumbai-Raipur flight, but I had to pay Rs10,000 for a Jetlite seat. Add to this the cost of the hotel I have to stay in.”
Like Siddagangaiah, even Dharmendra Gangurde, 40, and Vee Loun Clang, 38, both working for an MNC, were seen calculating their fares and re-examining schedules at terminal 1A, Santa Cruz. They were to fly by IC 195 Mumbai-Varanasi flight at 6am.
“The fare on one of the airlines is Rs27,000 per person, whereas we booked with AI for Rs16,000 each. We have to reach Varanasi for a meeting tomorrow,” said Gangurde.
