Air India Offers $350 Vouchers To Passengers For 30-Hour Flight Delay

Air India has offered an apology voucher worth $350 (Rs 29,203) to each passenger of the flight that took off from Delhi to San Francisco after a delay of more than 30 hours. The flight duration was around 16 hours. The airline has stated that the delay was due to several "technical and other operational constraints."

"Please allow me to sincerely apologise, on behalf of Air India, for the extended delay in bringing you to San Francisco, which was caused by several technical delays and other operational constraints," Air India Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Klaus Goersch said in a letter to the flight's passengers.

As a gesture of apology, Air India has offered a "travel voucher worth USD 350" for future travel with the airline, the letter dated May 31 stated.

The cheapest one-way Air India ticket from Delhi to San Francisco, if booked for tomorrow, can cost somewhere around Rs 98,000.

After being rescheduled multiple times since Thursday evening, the flight took off from the national capital at 9.55 pm on Friday and landed at San Francisco at 12.45 pm on Saturday. The flight was originally scheduled to take off at around 3.30 pm on Thursday.

The passengers will also have the option to credit the amount instead of using it for travel.

Many among more than 200 passengers captured their ordeal at the airport due to the delay and shared it on social media. Several passengers even took ill because of the severe heat wave in Delhi

"We are very sorry for this lapse in our service and the inconvenience caused to you," Mr Goersch said in the letter.

Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, while speaking to NDTV, said that making passengers wait for hours, be in a plane or the terminal is "unacceptable".

"If the flight delay extends beyond a period of time, then you must cancel the flight and reschedule and thereby alleviate the sufferings of passengers," the minister said.

On Friday, aviation regulator DGCA issued a show cause notice to Air India for flight delays and failure to take due care of the passengers. In the show cause notice, the watchdog mentioned the inordinate delay of two international flights - AI 183 from Delhi to San Francisco on May 30 and AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco on May 24.