Chennai-Ahmedabad GoAir flight delayed after pilot fails to turn up for duty

CHENNAI: A Chennai-Ahmedabad GoAir flight (G8911) scheduled to depart at 6.55am on Thursday was delayed by more than four hours after one of the pilots did not turn up for duty.
Passengers had a tough time as they had to wait inside the plane, which was on a parking bay far away from the terminal, till the airline managed to summon a replacement for the crew and operated the flight at 10.30am.
The passengers boarded plane on time using shuttle buses. But the plane did not depart well past the departure time.
"Around 7.15am, they announced that there would be a delay. After sometime, the cabin crew said the flight would depart after one and a half hours. When passengers insisted, they said that first officer did not turn up for duty," said K Suganthan, a passenger, who boarded the plane.
A few passengers wanted to get off the plane and return, but the crew discouraged them saying that they might not be able to leave the terminal till the plane took off and that they would arrange a replacement for the absent pilot when a flight from Mumbai landed.
"I managed to return to the terminal because I told them there was no point in flying because I had a return flight the same evening. An official said that they tried to arrange another pilot but failed as they were not reachable," Suganthan said.
Airlines usually keep one pilot on standby if a crew member scheduled for duty is not able to do the work. However, in this case, the airline could not arrange a pilot immediately.
GoAir, in a statement, said, "GoAir flight G8 911 from Chennai to Ahmedabad was delayed as the first officer did not join for duty due to health exigencies. GoAir arranged for a pilot and the flight took off at 10.30am with 177 passengers on board."