Passengers Faint Waiting For Air India Delayed By Over 20 Hours In Severe Heat, Without AC | Video

The Civil Aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to Air India over repeated incidents of flight delays of at least two international flights and failure to take due care of passengers. The notice was issued after a Delhi to San Francisco flight was delayed for nearly 24 hours. The delay, coupled with insufficient cooling inside the aircraft, caused discomfort to several passengers.

Visuals from Delhi airport showing distressed passengers of the flight lying down along an aerobridge corridor went viral across social media. As per social media posts shared by passengers, some passengers even fainted inside the plane without air-conditioning.

The flight was delayed "due to the operational reasons" and by the time the issue was resolved, flight duty time limitations kicked in, as per Air India sources.

In the show cause notice, the regulator mentioned about 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. Both flights were delayed and passengers were put to discomfort due to insufficient cooling in the cabin. Further, repeated incidents of passengers being put to discomfort by Air India in violation of DGCA norms have come to the notice of the regulator, as per the show cause notice.