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Air India offloads US citizen despite confirmed ticket
Published on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 08:56, Updated on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 17:11 in India section
Tags: Air India, US Senator , Gurgaon
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Gurgaon: Denise Chaudhary and her daughter have been up for the last 48 hours trying to get on a flight to New York, but they are back in their Gurgaon flat.
Denise had accompanied her husband, Minnesota State Senator Satveer Chaudhary to India on a visit and was booked to go back to New York early Sunday morning. However, Air India allegedly refused to let the two on board the plane, saying that the flight was full.
"They said there had been overbooking and that there were no arrangements for us," says a visibly harassed Denise.
Denise was allegedly asked to re-book on another flight. When she tried to do just that, she claimed she was told by the airline officials that she and her daughter were no-show cases — meaning they never showed up at the airline counter — and was asked to pay a penalty.
She was allegedly subjected to the airport staff's rude and objectionable behaviour.
"They just wanted the money in my wallet. Rs 500 each. They came very close to me, very suggestively and I didn't like it at all. I wanted to leave immediately for I was feeling very harassed and extremely threatened," says Denise.
A scrap of handwritten paper was what Air India had allegedly passed off as an e-ticket and issued to Denise at the airport.
Air India, meanwhile, clarifies that overbooking is routine in all sectors and off-loaded passengers who don't enlist their names are generally considered no-shows.
However, Denise begs to differ. "I love India but am afraid there are travellers and visitors who would choose not to do business or visit here because of instances like this," says she.
With Delhi all set to host the Commonwealth Games in just about three years, a lot of money and energy is being spent on revamping and upgrading the international airport. However, incidents like these highlight how much more needs to be done.
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I can understand that if and when passengers are "bumped off" like this it makes a bad impression. But beleve
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It's not just Air India. It's the customs, the immigration guy s and the people handling your bags at indian
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What is international norm on over-booking? I can understand the passenger's frustration if she's telling the full story; but how
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AIR-INDIA is back with a BANG.Don't be surprised if it happens to you, that how the atitude is "My job
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It was really heartening to see an American getting treated poorly at India's airports. When Indians arrive in NY many
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