Fact Check: Did Air India Violate Rules To Bring Back Stranded Team India From Barbados?

New Delhi: A special charter flight brought back the T20 World Cup-winning Indian contingent which was stranded in Barbados for three days after Hurricane Beryl struck the Caribbean island nation just hours after the final on Saturday.

Rohit Sharma’s men landed in Delhi on Thursday morning in AIC24WC – Air India Champions 24 World Cup – to great scenes of euphoria and joy in the national Capital.

Even as the entire country is going ga-ga over the Men in Blue, it has emerged that Air India may have violated the rules of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in arranging the special flight.

A scheduled passenger flight from Newark in the USA to Delhi was reportedly cancelled and that aircraft was flown to Bridgetown for Team India.

Some passengers have complained on social media that Air India didn’t arrange an alternative flight in the Newark-Delhi sector.

The country’s aviation regulator has taken note and sought a report from Air India on cancelling a regular flight, causing difficulties for pre-booked passengers.

Though there has been no official statement from DGCA or Air India, officials said the regulator has asked the airline to provide a report to establish the facts.

“The airline that was originally scheduled to fly the Indian cricket team had to be cancelled after which Air India was approached by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). That is when the Boeing 777 was identified for the task,” HT quoted an airline official as saying.

He claimed that passengers booked in the Newark-Delhi flight were informed in advance and even provided with an alternative, minimising the inconvenience caused.

“Even after this, some passengers could not be informed about the flight cancellation as a result of which they turned up at the airport. They were, however, taken to New York by road and were accommodated in the New York-Delhi flight,” the official added.

However, Anku Verma, who was booked on AI 106 with his wife and daughter, claimed that he was neither informed about the cancellation nor compensated.

“Air India is lying. I am one of the affected passengers and i was not offered any alternative to travel on partner airlines,” he wrote on X.

“So Air India cancelled my flight AI-106 (2 July) today and sent no information through phone, email, or any channel. I got to know about it when i was checking flight status before leaving for airport. No info on refund as well. Pathetic… I had to buy another ticket on American Airlines,” he added.

Ajay Awtaney, another passenger, complained about a last-minute flight cancellation and posted a screenshot of his cancelled Delhi-bound flight ticket on X.