This group of 80 people threatened the airlines that they’d get off the flight if the 17 weren’t let on.
Jet Airways flight 9W7083 scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Bhopal was delayed by about two hours early on Friday morning, leading to chaos as 17 of a group of 80 passengers, headed for a marriage, held the aircraft and other passengers ransom after allegedly intimidating staffers by using their political clout.
As per reports, there were close to 80 people who were traveling to Bhopal for a wedding event. 17 out of 80 people showed up late to the airport which resulted in the cancellation of their bookings giving other people preference. Apparently, these 17 people were able to pass through the security check and boarding gates even after their tickets were not confirmed.
Passengers alleged that the 17 passengers were known to a politician due to which the airline defied rules and accommodated them. “The flight was overbooked i.e. there were more passengers than available seats. Norms were violated when they asked us to deplane for somebody else since those who arrive late should not be allowed to check-in and board,” said one of the six passengers asked to deplane, requesting anonymity.
The 17 passengers who came late were booked separately. “After realising that they would not be accommodated on the flight, the group started protesting and intimidating airline staff and other passengers who had boarded on time,” airport sources to TOI.
The rabble-rousing passengers ensured that chaos ensued as they managed to reach up to the aircraft door without valid boarding passes. Excess passengers were handed over boarding passes that display the term ‘standby’ instead of a seat number and hence cannot board the flight unless someone on board decides to give up their seat.
Jet Airways was subservient to the Gujarati family because of the family’s connection to some “powerful” minister, reported India Today.
Among the passengers on board was a man en-route from Singapore to attend his father’s funeral, reported FilterCopy.
After a lot of chaos by the group, the airlines decided to cancel the tickets of people onboard to accommodate the remaining 17. Jet Airways, using the discretion given to it by the DGCA, offered a sum of Rs 10,000 to each passenger who agreed to be offloaded.
See what went down in the flight:
With Inputs from Various Sources
