Multiple Air India flights operating out of Mumbai were disrupted on Monday after third-party ground staffers refused to continue their work. Passengers on board a flight from Hyderabad found themselves waiting inside a grounded plane for at least 30 minutes after arrival. Social media posts from irate travellers indicate multiple flights were met with similar delays — with some not being allowed to disembark for over an hour.
According to a PTI update, employees of government-owned ground handling agency AIASL had carried out a protest at the Mumbai airport for a wage hike and other demands. AIASL provides ground handling services to Air India Group as well as international airlines.
“There was a silent Morcha by a certain section of employees, and we requested them to give us in writing (their demands) for discussion. They have been kind enough to go back and join back the work. They have given us a letter. We have told them that we will go through the same in terms of the policies,” PTI quoted CEO Rambabu as saying.
What has Air India said?
An Air India spokesperson later said that flight operations at Mumbai airport had been affected due to “Industrial action by employees of third-party ground handling agency”. Operations of both Air India and Air India Express were affected by the sitation on Monday afternoon.
“Our airport teams are working closely with all stakeholders to minimise inconvenience to guests and restore normal operations at the earliest. We appreciate the understanding and patience of our guests during this time,” the spokesperson added.
Passengers fume over delay
Multiple social media users shared photos and videos from their respective flights to complain vociferously through X.
“AI2772 landed at 1:01 pm. It’s now 2:06 pm, and passengers are still stranded inside the aircraft with no resolution. Now we’re being told the ground staff is on strike. If that’s the case, why are flights operating and passengers being made to suffer like this? There are small children, elderly passengers, and families stuck inside with zero accountability. A heart patient, who gets claustrophobic, is also inside. How are you handling?!” fumed an X user who had purportedly travelled from Kolkata to Mumbai.
The post demanded accountability and noted that the captain had dubbed it an unavoidable delay due to a strike by the ground staff — some 1.5 hours after the plane landed.
“I am on Air India Flight AI 2852, which landed in Mumbai at 12:01 pm today. It has been over an hour, and we are still seated inside the aircraft. We have been informed that an industrial strike is causing delays due to limited ground staff. I have a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur and need to reach the immigration counter by 2:30 pm,” wrote another.