New Delhi, October 6: Scores of passengers were left stranded at the national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) as the Delhi-Mumbai Air India flight, numbered AI 887, was delayed for several hours.

The aggrieved passengers were involved in heated quarrel with the airlines' ground staff as their flight schedule was changed at least thrice. In a bid to placate the commuters, the national carrier arranged for their early-day meals. Air India on Its Way to Become Globally Competitive Airline: Jayant Sinha

According to one of the passengers, the flight was scheduled to depart at 8 am in the morning. However, the airlines had sent an email to the commuters last night, informing them that the departure has been preponed to 7:30 am in the morning.

"After we came here, we found that they had combined two flights. We mere made to sit in a flight at 8am, and at 10am, they told us that another flight would be arranged four hours later," said one of the stranded passengers while speaking to reporters.

The incident at IGI airport is likely to draw flak towards Air India, which already faces charges of inefficient service. The carrier was expected to be privatised this year. However, the disinvestment plan got delayed as government's notification for bidding remained unanswered from the private sector.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2018 06:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).