Air India flight nightmare compensation query

NJ69x

Hi my father booked a flight via the online Travel agent Flightcatchers from London Heathrow to Amritsar India with Air India which had a 1hour 15 mins stop over in Mumbai. 

He flew yesterday and the Heathrow to Mumbai flight went fine and landed in Mumbai on time at 4.15am local time. The problem however was that Air India failed to get him on to his connecting flight to Amritsar from Mumbai. They said there wasn't enough time to make it on to the connecting flight and instead they changed his flight. 

He then had to wait 4 hours until 8am for a flight to New Delhi instead, from there he had to again wait 3 hours before they put him on a flight from Delhi to Amritsar.

The end result of this is instead of arriving in Amritsar at 7.55am he finally got there over 7 hours later at 3pm. He is 83 years old so this has been quite a stressful and challenging experience for him.

I contacted the travel agent about this but they said it's nothing to do with them and speak to Air India. I tried calling the airline but they don't answer their customer service phone number.

What are my father's options regarding this in terms of being compensated? I spoke with him on the phone and he said the Air India transfers desk told him his Amritsar flight had already left at 5am (it was scheduled to leave at 5.30am and actual departure was at 5.50am).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hoenir

NJ69x said:

Hi my father booked a flight via the online Travel agent Flightcatchers from London Heathrow to Amritsar India with Air India which had a 1hour 15 mins stop over in Mumbai. 

He flew yesterday and the Heathrow to Mumbai flight went fine and landed in Mumbai on time at 4.15am local time. The problem however was that Air India failed to get him on to his connecting flight to Amritsar from Mumbai. 

Sounds as there are two flights not one and the travel agent hasn't allowed sufficient transit time.  Nothing to do with Air India. 

eskbanker

NJ69x said:

He flew yesterday and the Heathrow to Mumbai flight went fine and landed in Mumbai on time at 4.15am local time. The problem however was that Air India failed to get him on to his connecting flight to Amritsar from Mumbai. They said there wasn't enough time to make it on to the connecting flight and instead they changed his flight. 

[...]

I spoke with him on the phone and he said the Air India transfers desk told him his Amritsar flight had already left at 5am (it was scheduled to leave at 5.30am and actual departure was at 5.50am).

Why was he still at a transfer desk less than 30 minutes before scheduled departure time of the domestic flight when on a fairly tight connection?  Did he already have a boarding pass for the second leg, and with hold baggage checked through?

NJ69x

I've attached a screenshot of the original flight booking email from September. It was booked as a flight from LHR to ATQ. At some point over the last few months the airline changed the arrival time of the first flight from 3.10am to 4.15am. 

eskbanker

NJ69x said:

At some point over the last few months the airline changed the arrival time of the first flight from 3.10am to 4.15am. 

They should have rebooked him at that stage then, once the connection was no longer viable:

Minimum layover time

• Domestic to domestic: 1 hour
• Domestic to international: 1 hour 30 minutes
• International to domestic: 2 hours

https://www.airindia.com/in/en/travel-information/airport-information/mumbai.html

Hoenir

16th February the flight departed at 13:49.  Consequently may have lost further time before the doors were opened at Mumbai. With such a short time window there's always the possibility of something going awry.  Two hours twenty minutes isn't enough. Given that the gates will close well before departure time. 

NJ69x

eskbanker said:

NJ69x said:

He flew yesterday and the Heathrow to Mumbai flight went fine and landed in Mumbai on time at 4.15am local time. The problem however was that Air India failed to get him on to his connecting flight to Amritsar from Mumbai. They said there wasn't enough time to make it on to the connecting flight and instead they changed his flight. 

[...]

I spoke with him on the phone and he said the Air India transfers desk told him his Amritsar flight had already left at 5am (it was scheduled to leave at 5.30am and actual departure was at 5.50am).

Why was he still at a transfer desk less than 30 minutes before scheduled departure time of the domestic flight when on a fairly tight connection?  Did he already have a boarding pass for the second leg, and with hold baggage checked through?

When we did check in at LHR they only gave the boarding pass for the first flight to Mumbai. They said we will need to clear immigration, collect our baggage and re check in for the connecting flight to ATQ. 

At no point in the flight booking process did either Air India/Skyscanner/Flightcatchers state that we would have to do that in Mumbai. It was sold as flight from London to Amritsar with a quick stop over in Mumbai 

NJ69x

Hoenir said:

16th February the flight departed at 13:49.  Consequently may have lost further time before the doors were opened at Mumbai. With such a short time window there's always the possibility of something going awry.  Two hours twenty minutes isn't enough. Given that the gates will close well before departure time. 

The flight left LHR a little late but it landed in Mumbai at 4.11am, 4 minutes ahead of schedule. It was actually 1hr 15 mins transfer time which I agree is far too short. They must have known it was impossible for anyone to make the 5.30am ATQ flight in time. 

eskbanker

It sounds like standard practice to have to go through immigration and collect baggage at the first point of entry rather than transit in the usual manner (as it is in the USA for what it's worth), so a minimum connecting time of two hours presumably reflects this:

International to domestic travel with a layover at an airport in India

Example journey: Abu Dhabi to Chandigarh with a layover in Delhi

Cities involved and terms used

• Departure city: Abu Dhabi

• First city of arrival/ layover city/ intermediate city: Delhi

• Final arrival city: Chandigarh

Please note that the above example journey is used for the below-mentioned guide to customs, immigration checks, and baggage transfers.

Customs and immigration check

• You will have to complete only your immigration checks in the intermediate or layover city, i.e., Delhi.

• Please complete these checks before you take your onward domestic flight.

Baggage transfer

To help you with your baggage transfer process, we've broken it down into steps:

• Departure city: Drop your check-in baggage at the check-in counter in Abu Dhabi.

• The first city of arrival/layover city/intermediate city: You must claim your baggage on arrival from the designated carousel at the layover city, i.e., Delhi.

• Onward domestic journey: 
   
  a. If you have a single e-ticket for the whole journey 
  Head to your check-in counter. Here, complete the check-in formalities and deposit your check-in baggage. 
   
  b. If you don't have a single e-ticket for the whole journey 
  Head to your check-in counter. Here, complete the check-in formalities and deposit your check-in baggage.

• Arrival city: Please collect your baggage from the designated carousel at the final arrival city, i.e., in Chandigarh.

https://www.airindia.com/in/en/travel-information/visa-documents/custom-immigration-baggage-transfer.html

Hoenir

NJ69x said:

Hoenir said:

16th February the flight departed at 13:49.  Consequently may have lost further time before the doors were opened at Mumbai. With such a short time window there's always the possibility of something going awry.  Two hours twenty minutes isn't enough. Given that the gates will close well before departure time. 

The flight left LHR a little late but it landed in Mumbai at 4.11am, 4 minutes ahead of schedule. It was actually 1hr 15 mins transfer time which I agree is far too short. They must have known it was impossible for anyone to make the 5.30am ATQ flight in time. 

The 2 hours and 20 minutes is based on the schedule you posted. The indicative transfer time at Mumbai for international to domestic flghts is 90 minutes.  Only leaves 50 minutes of leeway. Knock off a further 30 minutes for the gate closure. That's mere 20 minutes left spare. No surprise things didn't go to plan. 

Who booked the tickets? 

NJ69x

Hoenir said:

NJ69x said:

Hoenir said:

16th February the flight departed at 13:49.  Consequently may have lost further time before the doors were opened at Mumbai. With such a short time window there's always the possibility of something going awry.  Two hours twenty minutes isn't enough. Given that the gates will close well before departure time. 

The flight left LHR a little late but it landed in Mumbai at 4.11am, 4 minutes ahead of schedule. It was actually 1hr 15 mins transfer time which I agree is far too short. They must have known it was impossible for anyone to make the 5.30am ATQ flight in time. 

The 2 hours and 20 minutes is based on the schedule you posted. The indicative transfer time at Mumbai for international to domestic flghts is 90 minutes.  Only leaves 50 minutes of leeway. Knock off a further 30 minutes for the gate closure. That's mere 20 minutes left spare. No surprise things didn't go to plan. 

Who booked the tickets? 

The flight was found on Skyscanner and booked with the travel agent Flightcatchers (Polani Travel).

This kind of thing should not be allowed to happen, the travel agent is blaming Air India saying they just booked the flights and don't make the schedules. It's a form of false advertising because they know it's impossible to make that connecting flight. There's no way we would have booked a 24 hour total flight and 3 flights to ATQ from LHR. I feel we have been misled. 

What do you think our next move should be regarding this? Do we have any basis for a claim?

I booked the tickets for my dad using his credit card so the payment was made by him.