Chill, Kingfisher, things could be worse

Just when you thought that no airline could have it as bad as Kingfisher Airlines (and no passengers could have it as bad as Kingfisher’s, here are two stories from other parts of the world which tell Kingfisher to chill, as things could be worse - for the airline and the passengers.

“A nearly 9-hour flight delay turned into a standoff at Hong Kong airport Wednesday, with passengers refusing to leave the plane for 5-hours until the airline agreed to higher compensation…When Hong Kong Airlines flight 752 from Singapore arrived at 530 a.m. Wednesday morning, the airline says 80 passengers refused to get off. The travelers, mainly members of package tours from mainland China, demanded the airline increase the original compensation offer of $50 per passenger. Twenty-one of the passengers stayed on board for another five hours, requesting reimbursement for the unused hotel rooms they had paid for the night before. The airport police were called in to negotiate and the passengers finally at 10:25 a.m., after the airline agreed to pay them $150,” reports CNN.

[caption id=“attachment_133562” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Smile, Kingfisher, things aren’t so bad after all. Reuters”]  [/caption]

This is a story with a happy ending for the passengers (almost) and a not-so-happy one for the airline. The next is a nightmare for passengers.

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“An airline is set to investigate reports that it asked passengers to pay 20,000 towards the cost of fuel to complete their journey to the UK. Passengers said they were asked for the money when a flight with Austrian airline Comtel Air from Amritsar in India stopped in Vienna to refuel.Other passengers have been stuck in India after flights were cancelled,” reports BBC .

This one’s a little Kigfisher-esque, especially as airline officials were not to be found. “Commotion broke out at Entebbe International Airport as the 10am KQ flight number 411 to Nairobi was delayed and then cancelled without explanation leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. Angry passengers some of whom had connecting flights at Nairobi quarreled as they searched in vain for officials of the Kenya Airways to explain and make alternative arrangements,” says Newvision.

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Bad for the airline and passengers, good for the authorities is how the next incident plays out. “The U.S. Department of Transportation issued its first violation of the three-hour tarmac rule and fined American Eagle Airlines $900,000, according to a DOT statement.The airline, American Airlines’ regional carrier, was singled out for keeping passengers on airplanes on 15 flights arriving at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on May 29. DOT says 608 passengers were affected by delays of up to 3 hours and 45 minutes,” says LA Times.

And, finally, a story that tells you that even the pious and god-fearing don’t get a break from airline snafus. “There was no respite for pilgrims even on the fifth day of the national flag carrier’s post Haj-operation on Monday, as almost all Haj and routine flights were delayed for hours due to ill planning and mismanagement by the Pakistan International Airlines”, reports Pakistan Today.

Smile, Kingfisher. While the airline may not be the king of good times, it’s certainly not the king of bad times. Any of the airlines reported about above would win that crown.