Poontang,
They are short of Captains, money, work practices and passengers.
Passengers stranded as carrier puts flights on hold
KOLKATA: No-frills carrier Air Deccan, on Wednesday, announced the sudden withdrawal of services to the city. Nearly 120 passengers booked on Thursday's flight are now left in the lurch. This is the second instance of Air Deccan suspending operations for a prolonged period at short notice since starting flights to Kolkata a couple of months ago.
Though Air Deccan offered no explanation, sources said the Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai sector had been summarily dumped after one of the A-320 aircraft in its fleet was grounded. "On Sunday, a plane hit a boarding ladder while taxiing for take-off in Mumbai. Though it did operate for the day, it was subsequently grounded for inspection and repair. As a result, the Chennai-Kolkata-Chennai sector had to be sacrificed," an official said. There were two reasons behind the decision to drop the Kolkata flight. First, it was less remunerative than other metro sectors.
Second, being the only flight in the eastern sector, removing it made sense. "Plucking out a flight from another sector to service Kolkata would have further jeopardised operations. This decision caused the least disruption," an airline source said.
It may be so for the airline. But for passengers booked on flights the cancellation has wrecked havoc in their schedules. While the carrier will refund the fare, many who need to urgently travel to Chennai could get stranded.
The "now on; now off" operations on the Kolkata-Chennai sector has left passengers as well as the travel/trade industry miffed. While they acknowledge that technical glitches can occur, what they don't agree to is the absence of an exigency plan.
"The carrier must augment its fleet and start operations in the sector when there's a degree of confidence to service it properly. Sudden suspension of operations erodes passenger confidence," a travel agent said. Aviation industry experts, however, pointed out that such risks were part of the low-cost airline business.
"Unlike regular carriers, they cannot afford to keep a buffer aircraft. That would jack up costs," an aviation industry source said.
Last edited by Phileas Fogg; 22nd Mar 2005 at 09:56.