CHENNAI : Chennai airport is usually busy at 5 am, courtesy international flights. But it’s an unusual sight to see close to 600 people lining up outside the ticket counter at the domestic terminal. After SpiceJet announced that all ticket sales for flights in any sector would only cost Rs 777 for 77 minutes from 7 am — a promotional venture from the airline as they turned seven — there was little doubt as to why a crowd was forming. However, by the time the clock struck seven, it was evident that chaos would ensue. The scene was pretty much the same at all Spicejet booking counters in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi, among others. “There were people queuing up outside the counter from 11 pm on Tuesday night,” said an airline source from Delhi. All the rush, despite being great business for the airline, peeved customers who were seeking last-minute tickets. “This is ridiculous. I had exactly an hour and a half before my flight to Hyderabad but I could not buy a regular-priced ticket. The crowd was just too large. I had to take a higher priced flight from another airline because it was an emergency,” said Suresh Krishna (name changed), a business consultant. Passengers who had queries about their PNR and those who needed help getting their tickets printed also had trouble, added the frequent flyer.Sadly for those who had gathered, the online booking traffic crippled the airline’s server and caused “congestion in their phone and system lines,” as a spokesperson put it. As a result, the booking counter staff weren’t able to make the reservations and give people the tickets they desired. “We extended the time window till 10 am so that the glitch would be fixed and our passengers weren’t disappointed,” added the Spicejet spokesperson. After tallying all the tickets sold through the offer, Spicejet made an official statement that they had sold 38,967 tickets.And yet, a good number of people were turned away disappointed a little before noon as the time for the offer had officially ended, “Total waste of time. I was hoping to book tickets for my family of seven to go back home to Behrampore (near Kolkata) this October. I will have to disappoint them now,” said a dejected Bipindas. There just might be hope for his family’s ‘lofty’ plan though, “We have taken note of everyone who queued up and will be calling them back to ensure they get a chance to get the tickets at the offer price,” said the airline spokesperson.Those who waited and left without tickets might not have given vent to their ire of having to pay the high parking fee, but people who sought to make an online booking vented freely on the airlines Facebook page. Insults and rants flowed in abundance, but one comment that summed up the whole morning was by a user, Ranju Dodum: “Wasted morning...I’m seriously considering suing you guys.”
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