Double whammy for passengers as Jet Airways continues to cancel flights

MUMBAI: Thousands of passengers who have booked their summer holiday air tickets on Jet Airways are now stressed over the prospect of a ruined holiday and the money they would lose. For, Jet has been cancelling a large number of flights on a daily basis, while it also levies the steepest fee on flyers voluntarily cancelling their tickets.
While the government has allowed Jet to cancel any number of flights with impunity, if a passenger decides to cancel ticket, given Jet’s unpredictability, the airline will charge them a steep cancellation fee that can go up to Rs 4,600 for an economy-class ticket.

Last month, Jet hiked its cancellation fee. At present, Jet Airways operates about 120 daily flights, which is about one-sixth the number of flights it operated at its peak, say industry sources.

Most Jet passengers aren’t told whether their flight will be operated or cancelled till the last 72 hours or so. Once Jet cancels the ticket, it is legally bound only to refund the airfare. That is no solace to passengers who bought cheap tickets months in advance, as last-minute fares on other airlines would be steep. Given the unpredictability of Jet’s operations, if the passenger decides to cancel the ticket beforehand, Jet will levy the heavy cancellation fee and most early-bookers will lose almost the entire amount they spent on the ticket.

When contacted, a Jet Airways spokesperson told TOI: “Guests opting for voluntary cancellations are subject to appropriate charges in line with appropriate fare rules and the airline’s policy.”

Anoop Kanuga of Travel Agents Association of India said: “The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) should ask Jet to publish two months’ flight schedule, a list of flights Jet will surely operate, till say, May 31. Then those passengers who find that their flights have been cancelled, should be given a complete refund so that they are free to buy advance purchase tickets on other airlines. With a forward schedule, the DGCA can also release the unused Jet slots to other airlines, who will operate flights and so the supply won’t fall too much during peak summer travel period and the passengers won’t be hit.”

Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India, said that Jet should voluntarily do away with its cancellation fee given that it now has no flight schedule discipline. But neither the DGCA nor the ministry of civil aviation has stepped in to rescue the passenger.

Sonal Sharma of Clap Talent, an entertainment company, had booked a Delhi-Indore-Mumbai ticket on Jet for travel on March 15. “Jet changed the timings of both the flights. Our entire itinerary collapsed. We wanted to cancel the flights. It was almost impossible to get through to Jet customer care, but when we eventually did, Jet told us they would charge a cancellation fee.”

Miku Patel (46) paid Rs 34,000 and bought six Mumbai-Goa Jet return tickets for travel on April 13 to celebrate her father’s 75th birthday. “We don’t know if this flight will be operated. If we cancel the ticket, we will get hardly any refund due to cancellation fee. Who will compensate for the botched plan?”

Ashwini Naik, a Ghatkopar resident, had booked four tickets for family on a Jet Mumbai-Goa flight on March 20, only to learn during web check-in, a day before departure, that the flight has been cancelled. “We paid Rs 30,000 and bought Air India tickets as my 81-year old mother, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, had to travel to her village in Goa,” Naik said. The four Jet tickets, bought a month in advance, had cost them Rs 8,396.