PATNA: The ongoing strike by Air India pilots has crippled air service for Delhi from the city's Jaya Prakash Narayan International Airport.
The state-owned carrier has directed its officials here not to make bookings till May 3. All of its three Delhi-Patna-Delhi flights have been cancelled till further announcement.
As there seemed no end to the strike soon, passengers continued to bear the brunt of the agitation on Friday. Most of the fliers have cancelled their tickets for Air India flights while some others were being accommodated in the flights of other airlines.
Adding to passengers' blues is the poor dissemination of information from the airline officials. Passengers claimd that the AI call centres were not properly informing the booked passengers about the right status of their flight.
A special AI flight IC-809 was flown from Delhi when Patna-bound fliers created chaos at Indira Gandhi International airport on Friday morning. The flight, which arrived here at 12:40 pm, had around 45 passengers.
"We were sent SMSes last evening that the morning flight to Delhi (IC-409) was cancelled. I was going to airport to get my money refunded, but on the I received an SMS that a special AI flight for Delhi will come this afternoon," said a flier.
"We are not updated about the status of the flight. The strike has come as a major inconvenience for us," he added.
The flight returned to Delhi via Ranchi. IC-809 also accommodated several Delhi-bound fliers from Ranchi airport.
AI officials at the airport here are also not being informed about the status of flights. "We had been intimated that the flights are cancelled on Friday. Suddenly we were informed that a special flight was scheduled to arrive at 12.40 pm. We also do not know about the status of flights on Saturday," sources said.
At present, there are eight flights for Delhi. Now that three AI flights are temporarily cancelled, there are only five flights left for fliers.
The strike has come as a godsend for all five private airlines. "Most of the affected fliers are switching over to Kingfisher, IndiGo, Jet Airways, and Go Air flights from AI. This has caused a steep hike in fare prices," sources told TOI.
During normal time an average flier had to pay Rs 3000 to 4000 for Delhi, which has went up to Rs 13,000. "Some fliers are getting tickets for Rs 5000 while some have to cough up Rs 10,000 to 13,000 for the same ticket," sources said.
The strike has also given a hard time to travel agents. "I am cancelling dozens of AI tickets daily. As other airlines are charging exorbitant fares, most of the fliers are opting for trains," said a travel agent.
The state-owned carrier has directed its officials here not to make bookings till May 3. All of its three Delhi-Patna-Delhi flights have been cancelled till further announcement.
As there seemed no end to the strike soon, passengers continued to bear the brunt of the agitation on Friday. Most of the fliers have cancelled their tickets for Air India flights while some others were being accommodated in the flights of other airlines.
Adding to passengers' blues is the poor dissemination of information from the airline officials. Passengers claimd that the AI call centres were not properly informing the booked passengers about the right status of their flight.
A special AI flight IC-809 was flown from Delhi when Patna-bound fliers created chaos at Indira Gandhi International airport on Friday morning. The flight, which arrived here at 12:40 pm, had around 45 passengers.
"We were sent SMSes last evening that the morning flight to Delhi (IC-409) was cancelled. I was going to airport to get my money refunded, but on the I received an SMS that a special AI flight for Delhi will come this afternoon," said a flier.
"We are not updated about the status of the flight. The strike has come as a major inconvenience for us," he added.
The flight returned to Delhi via Ranchi. IC-809 also accommodated several Delhi-bound fliers from Ranchi airport.
AI officials at the airport here are also not being informed about the status of flights. "We had been intimated that the flights are cancelled on Friday. Suddenly we were informed that a special flight was scheduled to arrive at 12.40 pm. We also do not know about the status of flights on Saturday," sources said.
At present, there are eight flights for Delhi. Now that three AI flights are temporarily cancelled, there are only five flights left for fliers.
The strike has come as a godsend for all five private airlines. "Most of the affected fliers are switching over to Kingfisher, IndiGo, Jet Airways, and Go Air flights from AI. This has caused a steep hike in fare prices," sources told TOI.
During normal time an average flier had to pay Rs 3000 to 4000 for Delhi, which has went up to Rs 13,000. "Some fliers are getting tickets for Rs 5000 while some have to cough up Rs 10,000 to 13,000 for the same ticket," sources said.
The strike has also given a hard time to travel agents. "I am cancelling dozens of AI tickets daily. As other airlines are charging exorbitant fares, most of the fliers are opting for trains," said a travel agent.
