Mumbai: In a recent occurrence on an IndiGo flight moving over the Mumbai-Varanasi sector, the crew noticed an overbooked passenger before the flight took off and sent the plane back to the aerobridge at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).
The incident occurred around 7:50 am, and a crew member noticed a male passenger positioned at the rear of the aeroplane at the time flight 6E 6543 was making its taxying process. An attendant immediately notified the pilot, who ordered for the flight to be returned to the ground, as narrated by the passenger Sandeep Pandey.
There have not been any formal comments made to the airline regarding the incident. Overbooking is a common policy that airlines use to ensure that they do not leave empty seats in the aircraft; however, there is a possibility of being inconvenienced due to such a practice, as seen in this case.
Akhilesh Chaubey, another passenger who was travelling to Varanasi for work, explained the subsequent process: “The flight landed to the bay and the passenger was promptly removed from the aircraft. It then went ahead to check the hand luggages of all the passengers in the plane before it continued flying. This delayed the proceeding of the case for at least one hour.”
Amit Mishra, who was another passenger in the Indigo flight noted that the flight had landed in Varanasi somewhere around 10:30 AM IST. He also expressed his frustration regarding the delay by saying that in order to catch the 7:50 AM flight one has to reach the Airport at 6:30 AM if they are having the check-in bag. These delays which have been caused by the airlines due to over booking should be addressed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
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