Air India passengers stranded at Chicago airport for 2 days await for clarity on flight to Delhi

Around 300 passengers of Air India have been left stranded at Chicago airport since Tuesday (March 14) after their flight AI 126 to New Delhi was cancelled due to technical reasons. Some passengers complaied that there is still no clarity on when they will be able to fly to the national capital, PTI reported.

The flight was scheduled to depart from Chicago's O’hare International Airport at 1.30 pm (local time) on Tuesday and land in Delhi at 2.20 pm on March 15.

One of the passengers PTI quoted as saying on March 15 that he had been waiting for around 24 hours and there has beeen no update from the airline. He said in a video message, ”(The) airline does not have an answer for us. We don't know what exactly is going on… we don’t know when we are going to fly.”

Another passenger was quoted as saying by PTI over the phone that they have been waiting at the airport for nearly 24 hours and are not sure when they can take the flight to Delhi.

Two passengers told PTI that there were around 300 Air India passengers waiting to fly to Delhi, including foreigners.

When PTI contacted Air India, a spokesperson said that flight AI 126 had to be cancelled due to technical reasons on March 14.

”The affected passengers were offered all-round support and every effort is being made to accommodate them on alternate flights. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Air India has been embroiled in controversy for sometime now. Recently, a man was booked for smoking on an Air India flight and was sent to jail by a Mumbai court after he refused to pay Rs 25,000 for bail and stated that he is ready to go to jail instead.

The accused, Ratnakar Dwivedi, also cited an online 'search' to claim the fine payable under the IPC section was Rs 250. Following this, the Andheri metropolitan magistrate sent him to jail.

On February 28, the Tata Group-owned airline was in the limelight after a pasenger shared a video of an insect in the food he was served while travelling from Mumbai to Chennai.

Air India responded to the passenger and aplogised. The airline said, "Dear Mr Jain, we're sorry to note your experience while flying with us. This is not something good to hear. We strictly follow measures to ensure hygiene at every step of the process." Replying to Air India, Jain said, "Doesn’t look like hygiene was taken. My flight was AI671 -Mumbai to Chennai. Seat 2C."

On the same day, the carrier was pulled up by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor for providing unsatisfactory in-flight meals on a Nagpur-Mumbai flight.

The chef claimed that he received cold chicken tikka with cucumber, watermelon, and a sandwich with a small amount of stuffing, as well as a dessert that was essentially "sugar syrup."

(With inputs from sgencies)