Relatives of Dr. Srinivas Gopisetty from Massachusetts, who came with his family to Vizag by the AI 952 Dubai-Vizag flight from Hyderabad, had a harrowing time at the Visakhapatnam International Airport last Sunday (June 5).
The flight was scheduled to arrive in Vizag at 7.30 a.m. Around 7 a.m., they got a message that the flight was delayed by 30 minutes. Some of them had already left their homes in the city for the airport. They grew restless when the flight did not arrive even at 8.15 a.m. The staff member at the AI ticket counter seemed clueless and directed them to find out from the information being given on the CCTV at the airport entry/exit gates.
The CCTV screen at the exit gate was only showing that AI 952 as ‘delayed’ without mentioning the possible arrival time. After persistent enquiries, a hand-written board was put up at the counter indicating that the flight would arrive at 8.30 a.m. But even that did not happen and the CCTV screen continued to show it as ‘delayed’.
The waiting relatives wondered about the possible reasons for the delay of the AI flight. Could it be due to rain in Hyderabad? They realised that their fears were unfounded as another relative from Hyderabad came by the SpiceJet flight from Hyderabad at 8.30 a.m.
Finally, the AI 952 arrived around 9 a.m. after a one-and-a-half hours delay. The worst part was the lack of information from the AI authorities on the reason for the delay and updating the information about the delay at frequent intervals.
The Volvo bus, operated by SpiceJet to ferry air passengers from the tarmac to the terminal building at the airport, gave jitters to the passengers a few weeks ago, according to R.V.K. Koteswara Rao, who came from Hyderabad.
“The driver applied the brakes all of a sudden and a young woman, with a kid in her arms, lost balance and fell. A senior citizen, who was sitting on the last seat, fell from his seat. Luckily, no one sustained major injuries and ironically, they were not even prepared to complain.”
“I complained to the SpiceJet staff member at the counter but she coolly told me: “Sir, please call on the customer care number,” says Mr. Koteswara Rao.
Dr. Pradeep, who had travelled by the II AC coach in the Visakhapatnam-Kollam weekly express, on May 26, was perturbed by the collection of variable rates from passengers for food by the supplier.
The supplier had charged Rs.70 for the rice, potato curry, sambar and curd from a woman passenger. He had taken Rs.170 for the same menu from another passenger.
Though the coach was clean, the water in the toilet ran out in about an hour after the train started from Visakhapatnam. The woman passenger was shocked when the stall keeper on the platform at Vijayawada, charged Rs.40 for a packet of chips and a 1-litre water bottle, which normally would cost not more than Rs.25. When she pulled him up, he returned an additional Rs.10.
