Air India apologises after San Francisco flight fiasco, offers ₹30,000 travel

Apologising for the lapse in service and the inconvenience caused to passengers after San Francisco flight got delayed by 30 hours, Air India on Saturday offered a travel voucher of USD 350 each to the passengers.

According to PTI, the passengers will also have the option to credit the amount instead of using it for travel.

Air India Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Klaus Goersch wrote a letter to the passengers over the inordinate delay and the inconvenience caused to them.

Also Read: Air India passengers faint on San Francisco-bound flight amid 8-hour delay; no AC, say fliers

The San Francisco flight from Delhi got delayed by 30 hours, before it took-off on Friday and landed in San Francisco on Saturday, after the flight duration of around 16 hours.

The apology and travel voucher gesture comes after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday issued a show-cause notice to airlines for inordinate flight delays and failure to take care of passengers.

“Please allow me to sincerely apologise, on behalf of Air India, for the extended delay in bringing you to San Francisco, which was caused by several technical delays and other operational constraints,” reported PTI quoting Klaus Goersch.

Also Read: Air India gets DGCA’s show-cause notice over two international flight delays and ‘failure to take care of passengers’

“We are very sorry for this lapse in our service and the inconvenience caused to you,” Goersch said in May 31 letter.

The letter said that as a gesture of apology, Air India has offered a “travel voucher worth USD 350” for future travel with the airline.

The regulator has asked Air India why enforcement action shall not be initiated against the airline as flight Al-179 dated 24 May and flight Al- 183 dated 30 May were inordinately delayed.