Amritsar-Singapore flight takes off 5 hours early, leaves 35 passengers
A Singapore-bound flight reportedly departed hours ahead of schedule from Amritsar's Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, leaving 35 passengers behind. Scheduled to take off at 7:55 pm on Wednesday, the Scoot Airline flight allegedly left almost five hours early at 3 pm. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has since directed a probe into the incident.
Why does this story matter?
This incident comes to light at a time when India's aviation sector is under the cosh for numerous on-board incidents. Most noteworthy is the incident where a Mumbai man reportedly urinated on a co-passenger on an Air India New York-Delhi flight in November. However, the matter came to light almost a month later and highlighted the negligence of the airline and the cabin crew.
Scoot Airline claims passengers were informed about reschedule
According to the news agency ANI, Scoot Airline revealed that the passengers were notified about the early departure through an e-mail and their Singapore flight left with the passengers who reached the airport on time. However, numerous passengers claimed that they didn't receive any alert from the airline on the change in the flight's departure time.
Bengaluru-Delhi Go First flight that left without 55 passengers
This is the second incident this month where an airline left behind its passengers. On January 9, Go First's Bengaluru-Delhi flight left without 55 passengers. The passengers were reportedly left behind in a shuttle bus on its way to the airplane. Go First apologized to the passengers and stated that the incident happened amid delinquency during the screening of passengers before takeoff.
DGCA's show-cause notice to Go First
Later, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to the airline's Chief Operating Officer (COO) over the incident. Go First also ordered a probe into the incident and de-rostered all its employees involved in the matter. Furthermore, the airline stated that the left-behind passengers were accommodated on different flights to the national capital and were dropped off at their destinations too.
