SpiceJet flight SG-5113, scheduled to depart for Dubai from Mumbai at 12.55pm on Sept 26, finally took off around 8pm on Sept 27, over 30 hours later
Mumbai-based flyer Yash Raj, who eventually reached Dubai a day late, said the airline revised the flight timing around 10 times. The departure was later changed to midnight, then 1pm on Sunday, followed by further revisions to 4pm, 6.30pm and eventually 7.50pm. they sent another message changing the departure time to 7.50pm,” he said While I was already travelling in the Metro.
Because of this mess,” he said, i had to spend a day in a hotel, which I was forced to book.
They kept changing the timings every couple of hours,” Raj told TOI . “Seeing messages pop up repeatedly, with the airline simply mentioning ‘operational reasons’, was extremely confusing and frustrating,” Raj said. Raj said the ordeal worsened after SpiceJet sent a message indicating that gate details were available, leading passengers to believe the flight was finally ready for departure. On reaching the airport, Raj said passengers were allegedly not initially allowed inside. We were finally allowed to enter around 5pm,” he said.
“It wasn’t like they rescheduled it once and gave passengers sufficient notice. “It was a nightmare. “I trusted that update, left my house and started travelling towards Mumbai airport. “The SpiceJet team had apparently instructed the airport/Central Industrial Security Force ( CISF ) to not allow passengers inside. I was standing outside the airport despite having a valid ticket and had to wait for almost two hours.
The flight was initially pushed to 4pm on Saturday and subsequently to 9pm, he said. A Pune-based passenger from Baner on the same flight, who did not wish to be identified, said he had reached Mumbai at 7am on Saturday.
“I asked why the flight had been rescheduled so many times and why no compensation was being provided despite the delay exceeding 24 hours.
He said there was no SpiceJet ground staff at the boarding area and a third-party agency was handling operations. The response was that SpiceJet doesn’t provide compensation,” Raj said. Another passenger with the handle @NooRRtb said on X that she had an urgent job interview and could not afford to buy another ticket, asking the airline either to provide an alternative flight or compensation.