Kamini Bhandari, 85, was on her way home to Jodhpur, Rajasthan. At the San Francisco (SFO) terminal, she held an executive class ticket, security clearance, and a negative covid-19 report. Yet, during boarding, she was denied entry into her scheduled flight owing to overbooking and non-serviceable seats, the airline says.
The senior lady, traveling solo found herself distressed, stranded, and humiliated and had no solution but to call her son to the rescue.
"My mother Kamani Bhandari (85) was taking a flight from San Francisco to New Delhi on Monday, scheduled to depart at 8.30 pm and reach New Delhi on November 17 at 1 pm. After I dropped her, she went through the security check and was carrying a valid Covid negative report. She was given a boarding pass," Sanjay Bhandari, her son says.
He added, "However, some minutes prior to boarding, she was denied by authorities at the airport who said that they were overbooked and seats were unserviceable."
Since the senior lady, a US citizen, was traveling solo and felt clueless and stranded, her son was intimated soon of the occurrence. "I was clueless of what had happened. My son came to the airport, and I breathed a sigh of relief," she said.
Sanjay who is an IT employee in SF reportedly pleaded with the authorities to put her on the next possible flight to Jodhpur but was only given the concessional option of flying to Delhi.
In his tweet about the incident, he mentioned that his mother was overseas citizenship of India (OCI) cardholder and asked the airlines for accountability.
@PMOIndia @JM_Scindia @PremBhandariNYC @MoCA_GoI @ANI @airindiain
— sbhandari (@funartster) November 16, 2021
Irresponsible decision perpetrated on 85 years old woman with valid OCI holder denied travel on Air India SFO DELHI after issuing Boarding pass / security clearance deserves accountability: pic.twitter.com/RueEHRjo7g
His tweet was picked up by social activist Prem Bhandari, an NYC resident who is often approached on social media by Indians living abroad for assistance.
No one on board came to her rescue
The airline was approached for comment on the incident. A spokesperson told the TOI that the flight was full and one seat was unserviceable. "We had requested if anyone could postpone his or her trip since the flight was overbooked and one seat was not serviceable," he clarified adding, "since Air India does not have a daily flight to Jodhpur, we are trying to make an alternative and comfortable arrangement for her at the earliest. As per US Department of Transport (DOT) rules, we are paying her $1,550 for this inconvenience."
