Kolkata: Passengers of SpiceJet flight SG648 staged a protest at Kolkata airport on Thursday after the Bengaluru-bound flight departed more than six hours behind schedule.Airport sources said this was the second such disruption involving the airline in two days. On Wednesday, another SpiceJet flight had also failed to depart on time, after which passengers surrounded the airport manager and demonstrated.The flight on Thursday was scheduled to leave Kolkata at 9.10 am but finally took off at 3.29 pm. Passengers alleged that the airline had not informed them in advance about the delay and failed to provide clear updates after they reached the airport.Several passengers said they had arrived well before the scheduled departure time but were not told why the flight was delayed or when it would leave. They also alleged that repeated calls to the airline’s duty manager went unanswered, with the duty phone remaining busy for long stretches. Calls to the station manager were also not answered, they said.As anger grew, a group of passengers gathered outside the airport manager’s office and staged a protest, demanding answers and accountability from the airline. Senior airport officials later reportedly contacted DGCA and informed it about the situation.A senior airport official said the airport manager should not be blamed for the airline’s operational lapses. The official said the carrier must respond to passengers and take responsibility for communication failures. The official also described the failure of the duty mobile and the station manager to respond to calls as a serious dereliction of duty.
