Mumbai: A Jet Airways flight from the city to Bhopal had a “near-hijack type” situation on Friday after a technical glitch with the airline’s ticketing system allowed one family to book up to 80 tickets on a flight that could not accommodate all of them.
The glitch resulted in Jet flight 9W 7083 being delayed for more that two hours at the city’s airport as the family, which was heading for a wedding in Bhopal, got embroiled in a verbal spat with other irate passengers and airline staff.
The family blocked the flight from taking-off, with some of its members blocking the aircraft’s doors to prevent crew from shutting them.
The wedding group initially rejected efforts by the airline to compensate them or reaccommodate the group on other flights. One passenge claimed that a few members of the family even tried to bribe the cabin crew to kick some other passengers off the flight to make room for their large party.
The matter was finally resolved after the overbooked passengers finally accepted the compensation the airline was offering.
“A technical glitch resulted in Jet flight 9W 7083 [S2 4621] BOM-BHO on December 2 being overbooked above the norm. This resulted in certain confirmed guests on the flight being denied boarding,” a Jet statement said. “The offloaded guests — part of a larger group refused to accept our compensation/re-accommodation on alternative flights, and together with other members of the group, proceeded to hold the flight for 90 minutes, resulting in some confirmed guests being denied boarding.”
The airline subsequently said all the offloaded guests were duly compensated as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines. The technical glitch was identified and fixed.
A video posted by a passenger showed heated rows between other passengers and the wedding-bound family, as well as with airline staff for failing to call in security.
Media reports said the family concerned was connected to a powerful state minister.
