Vistara Crisis: 'My Elderly Mom & I Were Stranded at B'luru Airport for 12 Hrs'

Several Vistara flights have been cancelled over the week due to the brewing pilot crisis with the airline.

(Image altered by The Quint/Chetan Bhakuni)

The ongoing pilot crisis of Vistara Airline ruined its years of reputation in just one day. I was stuck for over 12 hours at the Bengaluru airport with my 64-year-old mother.

I was returning with my mother from a family function in Guwahati. I had booked a connecting flight with Vistara from Guwahati to Mumbai via Bengaluru. When we started our journey on 1 April, the flight departed on time at 2:30 pm, and we reached Bengaluru at 5:45 pm.

The next flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai was scheduled to depart at 6:45 pm, but we were told that it was rescheduled to 8:30 PM due to operational reasons.

My mother, several other passengers, and I waited at the boarding gate until 8:30 p.m. When the boarding time came, we were informed that the flight had again been rescheduled for around 10 pm.

The airline's departure time was being rescheduled until 12:40 am. At that time, we were informed that a flight from Delhi had arrived and was ready to depart for Mumbai. The boarding gates opened, and all passengers were seated.

As soon as we were all seated, the pilot emerged from the cockpit, took his luggage, and deboarded the plane without saying a word to us.

We had no clue what was going on. All the passengers started getting agitated and enquired about the situation from the flight cabin crew members. They were trying to calm the passengers down, as the flight had been delayed by over 6 hours. 

We were later made to deboard the flight, and the ground staff informed us that the flight had been cancelled and that the passengers would receive a full refund.

'Panic Amongst Passengers'

All the passengers panicked in this situation, as each had planned their connecting flights. A couple booked the same flight had a connecting flight to France via Mumbai. Another passenger had his mother admitted to a hospital in Mumbai and needed to reach there as soon as possible.

The airline's mismanagement meant that we had to wait for another two hours to get our baggage. When I finally got the baggage at 3 a.m., I booked an Akasa Air flight, which flew on 2 April at 6:35 a.m., and we finally reached Mumbai at 8:30 am.

'Passenger Management Could Have Been Better'

I understand that the airline's flight operations have been in crisis for a few days. This can happen. Every business has its ups and downs, but it needs to know how to handle its customers.

If they didn't have pilots to fly, they could have quickly informed their passengers beforehand so that people like me didn't have to suffer with their senior citizen parents.

I am a Vistara Gold Member. I took this membership to have a hassle-free journey. But it was very painful. The communication from the side of the airline should have been better. Even when I tried contacting customer care service, they kept me on hold for 52 minutes and then disconnected the call. The crisis is understandable, but poor communication and mismanagement must be improved. 

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)