Mangalore: Delayed arrival of baggage upsets passengers

The Hindu

Mangalore, 14 September 2010: Several irate passengers of the Air India, who arrived here from West Asia a few days ago, gathered at the Mangalore Airport early this morning demanding their luggage.

The passengers, who had arrived from various destinations in West Asia during the last few days, had not been given their baggage as they were yet to arrive from another place.

A passenger told The Hindu on Sunday said that around 20-25 passengers from different destinations arrived at the airport early that morning seeking response from the Air India officials. G.A. Riyaz Ahmed, a resident of Gandhinagar, Sullia, and his cousin had arrived by a flight from Bahrain last Thursday. He claimed that the airline officials only responded to the disgruntled passengers on Sunday because they got upset with the people having brought the information to the notice of the press.

He said that despite repeated calls, no body was telling them clearly about when their luggage would be received. “I called everyday and nobody answered the telephone call. We came for the festival and we had no clothes. The same thing happened to many people,” he said.

Asked if he knew why his luggage was delayed, Mr. Ahmed said that he “guessed” that the excess luggage might have been diverted to elsewhere due to festival season. However, he said that no one responded clearly to the questions asked in this regard.

Inclement weather

An Air India official, who requested anonymity, told The Hindu that around 40 passengers from several west Asian flights could not get their luggage. He said that this would happen to all airlines when they had to shift the luggage from one flight to another due constraints of weight. “During the festival season, many passengers bring extra luggage, and airlines have to leave behind the excess for another flight,” the official said.

In Mangalore, the monsoon is an added disadvantage, causing flight diversion and misery to passengers. “Because aircraft must carry extra fuel in case the flight gets diverted to another airport due to inclement weather, some of the luggage has to be diverted to another flight,” the official said. As the flight from Bahrain operates only on alternate days, there was more than usual delay in the arrival of luggage from there, the official said. The inclement weather only made things worse, the official said and added that the recent flights from Dubai that arrived on clear days had not faced any problems.

At times like these, the airline staff works extra hours, sorting out luggage overnight and getting a few hours of sleep, the official said.