Many passengers missed a Guwahati-bound Alliance Air flight on Friday morning allegedly because of misleading messages from the airline.
The first message informed passengers that flight 9I-757 would depart at 9am. Around two hours later, another message came that it would take off at the scheduled 7.30am.
At least one passenger was issued a note by the airline acknowledging the misinformation. The passenger has been assured of full refund.
“Alliance Air flight 9I-757 CCU-GAU on 19-Jan-24 shall now depart at 9.00 Hours,” the first message sent to the passengers at 4.38am stated.
“Alliance Air flight 9I-757 CCU-GAU on 19-Jan-24 shall depart Ontime at 7.30 Hours. Reporting time is 90 minutes & Check-in counter closes 45 minutes prior to departure,” said the second message, which was received at 6.23am.
Kolkata-based businessman Gaurav Agarwal said he had planned to reach the airport around 7.30am after receiving the first message.
“However, when I received the second message, I was shocked. I called the airline’s helpline number provided in both messages,” said Agarwal, who runs a business of supplying medical devices and was on his way to Guwahati to meet officials of the Assam health department.
“The person who answered the call said they would be unable to do anything and that I should go to the airport and speak to airline staff there,” he said.
Agarwal alleged that when he asked for the contact number of an airline staff member at the airport, the person at the helpline desk refused to provide it. “The person said as a policy they did not share the contact number of the airline’s airport staff,” he said.
“At the airport, there were others who missed the flight and we were all at the counter. But no senior official met us,” alleged Agarwal. An altercation continued for some time, after which the airline arranged seats for Agarwal and his employee on a 10.30am Air India flight.
Sodepur resident Soumyadip Chakraborty was another affected passenger.
“After receiving the message that the flight would be delayed, I planned to reach the airport around 7.30am. I had called the helpline number and the person who answered the call said they would not be able to do anything and that I should
make my own arrangements,” said Chakraborty, who was going to Guwahati for a meeting.
At the airport, he called the airline’s number and a woman who answered the call asked him to proceed to boarding gate 104.
“The gate was closed and no one was answering the call to the airline’s number. After making several attempts from another number, the woman finally answered. An airline employee escorted me to the check-in counter,” said Chakraborty.
After an altercation, the airline staff offered him a seat on an evening flight. “My meeting was scheduled for 1pm, so it was no use going to Guwahati on an evening flight. I demanded a refund,” said Chakraborty. The airline finally gave him a document stating that the passenger missed the flight because of early departure. “Passenger misinformation hence entitled for a full refund,” the note said.
Sushil Kumar Dhamani was another passenger who missed the flight. Dhamani said he was going to Guwahati following the death of a relative.
“The flight was advanced because of some operational reasons,” said an official of Alliance Air when Metro called the helpline number.