The Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a show-cause notice to Go First on Tuesday after a flight from Bangalore airport took off leaving more than 50 passengers forgotten in a bus on the tarmac. The aviation regulatory sent a notice to the airline officials, asking why enforcement action should not be taken against them for “dereliction of their regulatory obligations”.
Meanwhile, the airline issued an apology, de-rostered all concerned staff and initiated an inquiry into the incident. “All concerned staff have been de-rostered by the airline and an inquiry is currently underway,” sources said.
The regulator has issued the show cause notice to the Accountable Manager/ Chief Operation Officer of Go First as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. The DGCA has given two weeks time to the airline to submit their reply.
The incident took place on Monday when Flight G8 116 took off for Delhi from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport around 6.30 am.
DGCA has sought a report from GoFirst after the airline’s flight from Bengaluru forgot to board over 50 pax at Bangalore airport on 9th Jan. 53 out of 55 passengers were shifted to another airline for Delhi and onward, remaining 2 asked for a refund which was paid by the airline. pic.twitter.com/IRfOMpGz8u— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023
Passengers were taken in four buses to the aircraft. While one bus having some 55 was waiting, the Go First plane took off. Notably, this happened after the concerned passengers got their boarding passes and their bags were all checked in.
The passengers were then accommodated on a flight that left four hours later, around 10 am.
Following the incident, several affected passengers took to Twitter to slam the airline service calling it ‘Horrifying’. Taking into account the customer’s grievances, the DGCA said today it is “We have sought a report from the airline and appropriate action shall be taken,”.
Go First Airways, initially responded to the tweets with, “We regret the inconvenience caused.”
Some of the reactions of the passengers are as follows.
Most horrifying experience with @GoFirstairways5:35 am Boarded the bus for aircraft6:30 am Still in bus stuffed with over 50 passengers, driver stopped the bus after being forced.Flight G8 116 takes off, leaving 50+ passengers.Heights of negligence! @DGCAIndia— Shreya Sinha (@SinhaShreya_) January 9, 2023
Flight G8 116 (BLR – DEL) flew leaving passengers on ground! More than 50 passengers on 1 bus was left on ground & flight took off with just passengers of 1 bus on boarded. Is @GoFirstairways @JM_Scindia @PMOIndiaoperating in sleep? No Basic checks. pic.twitter.com/QSPoCisIfc— Satish Kumar (@Satishk98130718) January 9, 2023
It later released a statement regarding the incident and said an investigation is underway. “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8 116, from Bengaluru to Delhi,” the airline said in a statement. It also said that passengers were accommodated on alternate airlines to Delhi and onward to other destinations.
“Go Air also offers one free ticket for travel on any domestic sector in the next 12 months to impacted flyers,” it added.
At present airline industry in India has been under fire for a series of mishaps being reported by passengers. Incidentally, this comes a week after the cabin crew of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 was grounded over their handling of an inebriated business-class passenger urinating on a 70-year-old woman.
The issue grabbed national headlines as a result of lapses by Air India which failed to take immediate action against the accused. The passenger was arrested after more than six weeks after the airline filed a complaint to the police last week.
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