I had a Go Air flight G8 222 to Mumbai on 5th April at 7:15am. I reached the airport at 6:15am and was in queue for check in. There were 2 Go Air flights operating in the morning, 7:10am to Delhi and 7:15am to Mumbai. The total passenger load was about 340 people. There were only 2 people at the Go Air check in counter handling both flights simultaneously. By the time I reached the counter, they said the counter has been closed. Almost 40 people were not allowed to board the aircraft, all who had reached the airport an hour before the departure. In these 40, some had international connecting flights, some had important business meetings, and some had a job. I apparently had an entrance exam in the afternoon in Mumbai. The passengers requested the ground staff to delay the flight by 10-15 minutes and let the them get on board. The check-in personnel denied the same and all these passengers were left behind.

When we asked for the full refund of our airfare, we were told that each passenger would be charged Rs.750 for cancellation or for rescheduling. My Go Air flight cost me Rs.1600. Why would I pay half the amount for not travelling on the date I am supposed to, and that too because of a problem at their end. I requested them to put me on the next Kingfisher flight at 8:40am. The airfare for this flight was Rs.3600. Being a student, I did not have that kind of cash in hand to purchase another ticket. No support was shown from the Airport authority regarding this issue. There is no Go Air flight operating in the evening, and no flight operating the next day, Tuesday. They suggested us to reschedule ourselves on the Wednesday flight, 2 days after the actual travel date. There was no Go Air manager present on the airport. Only the check-in personnel and reservation desk personnel were taking care of this issue. After an hour of argument and after the media had arrived, they agreed to refund us the complete fare.

However, this does not compensate for people who have missed their important meetings or examinations. They did not even account for passengers travelling abroad on connecting flights. Go Air has no value for their customers at all. No passenger was at fault and everyone had reached the airport on time. It was due to mismanagement and lack of personnel that this problem occurred. Also, the check in personnel agreed that their system was running slow, hence the delay in checking in passengers.

Go Air should be penalized for their behavior with the passengers and for not keeping up with their terms and policies. It is clearly stated that Check In counter opens 2 hour prior to departure and closes 30 minutes before departure. Again, there was no passenger who reached later than 6:30 for the 7:15 flight.

I hope there is an action taken against them and justice be done to the passengers.