Indigo flight overbooked: Extra passenger delays mumbai-varanasi takeoff
The incident occurred on an IndiGo Airlines plane. When the crew discovered something was wrong, the aircraft was ready for takeoff and taxiing on the airport runway. There were too many passengers on the plane.
The IndiGo Airlines plane was supposed to fly from Mumbai Airport to Varanasi in India. Still, just before takeoff, the onboard crew discovered a passenger standing at the back of the plane. The pilot was immediately notified and turned the aircraft back towards the airport terminal.
Extra passenger a result of system error
- The flight returned to the bay, and the passenger was offloaded. The airline then checked the cabin baggage of all passengers on board before proceeding with the take-off after a delay of at least an hour - said a passenger of the aircraft, Akhilesh Chaubey, as quoted by the Hindustan Times portal.
The situation was caused by overbooking, which occurs when more passengers than available seats on the plane. Travelers without a seat are usually rebooked onto another flight. This time, however, there was an error in the reservation system.
- There was an error during the passenger boarding process of 6E 6543 from Mumbai to Varanasi, wherein a standby passenger was allotted a seat reserved for a confirmed passenger. The error was noticed prior to the departure of the aircraft, and the standby passenger was de-boarded. This led to a slight delay in the departure of the aircraft. IndiGo will take all measures to strengthen its operational processes and regrets the inconvenience caused to customers – explained the spokesperson for IndiGo Airlines.
The extra passenger was an airline employee
It turned out that the extra passenger was an IndiGo Airlines employee who was supposed to take the flight as part of recreational staff travel. The crew member checked in after receiving information that there was an available seat on that flight.
Source: hindustantimes.com
