Dear Sir,

My son (age 14 yrs) and myself had a confirmed ticket on AI 764 (ETD 5 pm) from New Delhi to Kolkata. Ticket no. 0985381145184. Frequent flier no F 180938 on 23.12.11. We had telechecked in and were given seat nos.14 D&E.

We were at the counter Row E of the International terminal around 3.40 PM. The girl on the last counter with a dead pan face merely informed us that we were bumped off (Waitlisted no. 1773 & 1775) and that we should stand in cue (read fight) for a boarding card for the next flight. We really had no option but to do that and with great difficulty & arguing were given our boarding cards 10 D & 10 E for AI 022 to depart at 8 pm. No reasons were given for this either to us or to the 50+ passengers who had met with the same fate. Many were travelling with children.

On going to the prescribed counter to check in our baggage we were informed that the flight was delayed until 9.15 pm. Since we had very important work the next morning in Kolkata and no other airlines had seats available, we reconciled to this and waited for our flight.

Food & beverage inside the terminal is extremely expensive and at no point of time were we offered any lounge facilities, food , nor was any official available to explain the situation to us.

We reached the boarding gate only to find out that the flight was further delayed until 10.15 pm. On asking the officials there we were told that ours was a domestic flight and that this was an International flight they had no knowledge of the situation.
A dignified looking Sikh gentelman was there and so I asked him for an assurance about the flight. Since I was travelling with a child I asked him to give me a correct picture so that I could return home while there was still time. He gave me his full assurance which I had no reason to dis believe. The flight was announced at 10.40 pm but the worst was yet to come.

When we reached the boarding door, we were again told that we were bumped off (no reasons given ) and that we should enjoy, have dinner and wait for a special flight at 1 AM. At this we and some 30 passengers who had met with the same fate lost their patience. It was as if we were being held at ransom. It was too late to return home in a taxi. Mr. Nalin Bhatnagar was also at the gate then. No feedback forms were available anywhere when we asked for it.


Flight AI 098 departed after 1 PM in the morning and my son by then was in a very tired state. This was an ATR flight and given Air India's reputation, we did not know what fate awaited us.

Around 3 AM the pilot announced that there was Zero weather in Kolkata (I do not know what he meant by this but assumed that he meant the there was zero visibilty) and that we were diverting to Bhubeneswar. We were inside the aircraft until 6 AM and thereafter were taken to the terminal for refresments. Our flight landed in Kolkata around 9.30 AM on the 24.12.11.

Who will address this issue on our behalf as ironically eventhough we are a democracy, the common man has no voice. What compensation should be expected from a totally defunct, unreliable National Carrier like Air India.

Regards,
Vineeta Jalan