| Address: Vadodara, Gujarat, 390007 |
| Website: www.goindigo.in |
I have been flying many airlines across the world since maybe 40 years and although my in-flight experience and the on time record of Indigo is appreciated what they put their customer though at boarding is quite offensive and inhuman at times.
They have been boarding passengers into the busses to take them to the aircraft approximately 40-45 minutes before the ETD of the flight, but, not to board the aircraft, to wait on the busses till the plane, which has possibly just arrived, is still under the deplaning and cleaning process.
They also have a standard recorded announcement on all busses welcoming the passengers and “warning” them of a possible wait for a few minutes while the cleaning is completed.
Now having experienced this phenomenon many a times in the past years, waiting between 5-15 minutes was normal and of course the busses are loaded to capacity (meaning, sitting, standing, squeezed)
The most recent experience was on June 16 flight# 6E 339 I was travelling from Mumbai – Vadodara (BOM-BDQ sectors) estimated time of departure 1505 hours, boarding time stated at 1420 hours.
Boarding was announced at 1425 hours (approx) and as usual at first we were thrown out of the terminal with NO BUS available, after 7-10 minutes we boarded the busses AND THEN WE WAITED, AND WAITED…. AND WAITED for approx. 15-20 minutes more AT THE TERMINAL ITSELF with closed doors, packed bus, including a passenger who had a broken hand in plaster and one old lady on a wheel chair.
At approx.[protected] I saw an aircraft which had just started disembarking just 50 meters away from the terminal and I joked with a fellow passenger that this was probably our aircraft. AND IT WAS.
By then many irate passengers including myself had disembarked from the bus and sought and explanation.
After a furious exchange between passengers and the airline staff (reminding me of the 1980’s when cancellations and delays were an order of the day) we were finally hoarded back on the bus and moved to the very aircraft I had mentioned, hearing the same recorded announcement of the possible delay in boarding due to cleaning of the aircraft. We stood at the bus for another 10 minutes and were boarded after 1505 finally taking off at approx. 1530.
I learned that the aircraft bearing the same flight number had come in from Lucknow (LKO) and I checked the online arrivals, it had touched down at 1447 . Why then were we thrown out of the terminal even before the aircraft had touched down.
Delays due to air traffic are understandable and condonable but this kind of INHUMAN CATTLE LIKE treatment to passengers is NOT!
I urge you to take up the matter with the concerned airline authority to stop this unhealthy practice and to try to achieve their ON TIME record on a level playing field using their efficiency rather than putting the passengers through this torture.
I would also demand a refund of fare to each and every passenger on that particular flight sector 6E 339 BOM-BDQ / 16JUN