Adampur airport, a major domestic terminal and Indian Air Force facility catering to the residents of Jalandhar, is not only a location on the map, but a lifeline for Doaba, the region with a huge overseas population. According to reports, a vast majority of non-resident Indians (NRIs) are from Doaba, with lakhs of families based abroad. In this light, effective air connectivity is not a luxury, but a requirement. Adampur has domestic flights to Ghaziabad's Hindon airport and direct and indirect flights to Mumbai at present.
The TrueScoop team recently chose to live the experience first-hand. They took a booking for August 2 on Star Air, with a flight departing Adampur at 3:30 PM to Hindon Airport, with an estimated arrival time of 4:30 PM. The team arrived at the airport at 1:30 PM, in company with a few other hopeful flyers waiting.
As minutes went by, doubt was spreading around the terminal. At 2:00 PM, nothing from airport staff. Then, at 2:19 PM, there were rumors: the flight had been delayed. It was only when the team came up to the airline that they were finally confirmed. There had been no announcement, no note, no email, nothing official.
It got worse. At 2:45 PM, passengers' murmurings suggested cancellation. Fear and dismay escalated into pandemonium as groups rushed to the inquiry desk, pleading for clarification. Then came the official message: Star Air flight S5235 had been cancelled for "operational reasons."
It was not a routine domestic hop, the grounded plane was to indirectly link Nanded, Mumbai, impacting a varied lot of travelers. Among them were two jathas (pilgrim groups) traveling for religious congregations. Ludhiana, Doaba people, and an international passengers from Germany, were stuck.
He told True Scoop "We were going to a religious gathering at Nanded on August 4. Having waited for hours, our August 2 flight got cancelled without any concrete assistance from the airport or airline personnel. This is not the first time, it had happened to us in January too."
Another German passenger expressed his discomfort of staying stuck in a foreign city without accommodation following the cancellation. A lady who had traveled solo from Ludhiana with her three-year-old kid narrated that she had reported at 10:00 AM, but waited for several hours.
When TrueScoop questioned the Star Airlines employees for an explanation, we discovered that the workers were just as confused. The language issue was self-evident, too many staff members had difficulty communicating with native Punjabi locals. They promised all passengers refunds in a week, but those who were stranded saw the inconvenience go well beyond their finances.
By the time the ordeal was over, the airport parking lot was full of taxis booked by angry passengers, all having to reconsider their plans and begin their travels back home, not by air, as they had planned, but by road, frustrated and disappointed.
The scenes at Adampur airport are plain: though it acts as a lifeline for connecting the heartland of Doaba with the rest of India, regular cancellations and delays are disappointing the very people that it purports to serve. Passengers aren't statistics; they are families seeking to reunite, pilgrims on devotional quests, and commuters with obligations. Their distress, ignored, casts grave doubt on the efficiency and sensitivity of airline and airport administration.