Mumbai rains: Flights schedules still hit due to unavailability of crew

Mumbai: Flight operations in the country’s financial capital largely remained affected for the second day on Wednesday, even though rains subsided and the city struggled to get back on its feet following incessant downpour a day before. [caption id=“attachment_38164” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AP[/caption] The airlines had to either cancel and delay a number of flights, mainly due to difficulties being faced by their crew and passengers in reaching the airport. Private carrier Jet Airways cancelled 19 flights out of the city, including some of its international services. Its other flights are delayed by up to two hours. Though Air India did not cancel any of its flights, its operations were delayed by around half and hour on an average. The airlines said though the situation was under control and the visibility improved, they were witnessing operational delays due to non-availability of crew who are stuck, as most part of the city roads remained water-logged for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. Jet Airways, which had on Tuesday cancelled 12 flights including some international operations and diverted many, today said there were no diversions. “Flights are released as per crew reporting. Due to which flights are getting delayed with the maximum delays going up to two hours,” the airline said in a statement. “The total number of flights cancelled is 19 today. Many passengers, crew are stranded for hours due to non-availability of transport. Cockpit crew are coming by company transport, while some cabin crew are coming on their own,” it said. Tuesday’s torrential downpour crippled rail and road traffic in the megalopolis, which is slowly returning to normalcy. While road traffic has improved, largely because of a public holiday announced by the state government, rail transport is limping and is far from returning to normalcy as water on tracks is yet to recede. An Air India official said the airline has not cancelled any flights but the operations are delayed by at least 30 minutes. Spicejet said its operations are delayed by 25-30 minutes on an average, but it has not cancelled any flight. A Vistara spokeswoman said none of the Vistara flight were cancelled or diverted. “None of Vistara flights have been cancelled or diverted…all flights to/from Mumbai for today are scheduled to operate as usual, as of now,” she said. Low-cost carrier GoAir, in a statement, said that the inclement weather in the city has impacted its flights, resulting in the delays of around an hour and a half in outbound flights. Though it cancelled two flights yesterday, all its flights are operating as per schedule today. GoAir said it will “assist customers to re-book to a date within the next seven days, if they are unable to travel on confirmed flights on 29 and 30 August without any penal levies, but the fare difference will be applicable in the case of rescheduling.