Dimapur| August 18 : Air India (AI) has earned a bad reputation among frequent fliers in Nagaland for its constant delays, cancellation and rescheduling of flights. At least three flights are rescheduled in a week for passengers flying from Dimapur to Calcutta, and the problem has escalated in the last two months. There has been no relevant explanation for the hitch from AI authority except for the regular “operational reason-” a reason best known to AI.
Over the past few months due to frequent cancellation and rescheduling of AI flights from Dimapur to Calcutta and vise versa, passengers have had harrowing experiences. People have had their entire scheduled disrupted many times, while some have had to unnecessarily spend money booking hotels in Dimapur and Calcutta to stay. A few months back, one senior politician had told the media of his ordeal at Calcutta where he spent two days waiting to catch his flight to Dimapur. In some cases, due to delay in flights taking off from Dimapur to Calcutta, people have missed connecting flights to their destination. Many passengers have had similar unforgettable experiences due AI’s poor service.
In the case of AI informing the passengers about rescheduling and cancellation of flights, notices are published in newspapers only on the day of travel. This causes immense problems to passengers, especially those coming from other parts of Nagaland. The worse part of all this is that passengers are not compensated for any lost time by AI. In fact, they probably could care less. There are frequent fliers who are willing to pay double the price to avoid AI but that’s not an option they can have as it is the only airline operating in Nagaland.
The Station Manager of AI Dimapur Centre said that all fight instructions come from the Central office in Calcutta. He said that many a times they have conveyed the inconveniences faced by the passengers in Nagaland to the Central office but the condition remains the same. On the cause of constant rescheduling and cancellation, the manager cited “technical failure.” It is hard to fathom how the aircrafts could suffer “technical failures” so often. The manager further explained that “all normal flights take off on time,” and it is only the “ATR or small aircrafts” that keep getting delayed. The manager also said that “lack of landing facility during poor visibility” was also another factor.
The Government of Nagaland has claimed to have on many occasions conveyed the problems of poor AI service to the Ministry of Civil Aviation but the problem persists. Now with AI’s services going from bad to worse, the government needs to push the Centre even harder and make flying a better experience for the people of Nagaland.
Over the past few months due to frequent cancellation and rescheduling of AI flights from Dimapur to Calcutta and vise versa, passengers have had harrowing experiences. People have had their entire scheduled disrupted many times, while some have had to unnecessarily spend money booking hotels in Dimapur and Calcutta to stay. A few months back, one senior politician had told the media of his ordeal at Calcutta where he spent two days waiting to catch his flight to Dimapur. In some cases, due to delay in flights taking off from Dimapur to Calcutta, people have missed connecting flights to their destination. Many passengers have had similar unforgettable experiences due AI’s poor service.
In the case of AI informing the passengers about rescheduling and cancellation of flights, notices are published in newspapers only on the day of travel. This causes immense problems to passengers, especially those coming from other parts of Nagaland. The worse part of all this is that passengers are not compensated for any lost time by AI. In fact, they probably could care less. There are frequent fliers who are willing to pay double the price to avoid AI but that’s not an option they can have as it is the only airline operating in Nagaland.
The Station Manager of AI Dimapur Centre said that all fight instructions come from the Central office in Calcutta. He said that many a times they have conveyed the inconveniences faced by the passengers in Nagaland to the Central office but the condition remains the same. On the cause of constant rescheduling and cancellation, the manager cited “technical failure.” It is hard to fathom how the aircrafts could suffer “technical failures” so often. The manager further explained that “all normal flights take off on time,” and it is only the “ATR or small aircrafts” that keep getting delayed. The manager also said that “lack of landing facility during poor visibility” was also another factor.
The Government of Nagaland has claimed to have on many occasions conveyed the problems of poor AI service to the Ministry of Civil Aviation but the problem persists. Now with AI’s services going from bad to worse, the government needs to push the Centre even harder and make flying a better experience for the people of Nagaland.
