AHMEDABAD: An airline cannot blame a flat tyre for cancelling a flight and escape liability when its own failure to maintain an adequate fleet leaves passengers stranded, the Gujarat State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has held. Dismissing an appeal by Ventura Air Connect Ltd, the state commission upheld a compensation order in favour of a passenger who learnt about his flight cancellation only after reaching the airport. It also imposed an additional penalty of Rs 10,000 on the airline.Kamlesh Jani had booked two tickets on Ventura Air Connect’s flight VA-702, which was scheduled to fly from Amreli to Surat on October 2, 2023. Travelling from his native town Khambha, Jani reached the airport only to discover that the flight would not operate. The airline’s email informing him about the cancellation arrived after the scheduled departure time. The cancellation led to a heated exchange between Jani and the ground staff. Following the altercation, the airline blacklisted him, alleging that he had behaved aggressively with its CEO.Jani subsequently approached the Amreli District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, challenging the airline’s conduct and blacklisting. The district commission ordered Ventura Air Connect to reimburse Rs 6,000 towards his to-and-fro taxi expenses and pay Rs 50,000 for mental agony and harassment, besides Rs 3,000 towards litigation costs. It also directed the airline to strike his name off its blacklist.Challenging the decision before the state commission, the airline maintained that a flat tyre had developed in its aircraft, leaving it with no option but to cancel all flights in compliance with aviation safety norms. It argued that the ticket amount had already been refunded and that Jani had not established harassment.The state commission found the airline’s explanation unconvincing. It noted that Ventura Air Connect had a fleet of three aircraft, but two were already undergoing maintenance when the incident occurred.With just one aircraft available for operations throughout the day, the airline had left itself without any contingency arrangement, the commission observed. It said, “The sole operational aircraft should develop a flat tyre is not an act of God but a foreseeable consequence of the opponent having left itself no margin for contingency. We find no merit in the opponent’s characterisation of the cancellation as force majeure, and we hold that the deflation of the tyre occurring as it did in the context of two-thirds of the opponent’s fleet already being out of service, reflects a lapse in maintenance and fleet management attributable squarely to the opponent and constitutes deficiency in service.”Holding that the cancellation could not be treated as force majeure in the circumstances, the state commission dismissed the airline’s appeal and upheld the district commission’s directions. It further ordered Ventura Air Connect to pay Jani Rs 10,000, taking the total monetary compensation and costs awarded across the two proceedings to Rs 69,000. The direction to remove his name from the airline’s blacklist also stands.
