Jet Airways cancels 10 flights from Mumbai, hundreds stranded at CSMIA airport

At least 10 Jet Airways flights from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) were cancelled on Sunday, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at the domestic airport, according to sources. Though the airline has cited "operational issues" for the inconvenience, sources said it was due to the scarcity of pilots at the carrier. There are also reports that Jet Airways has not been regular in paying salaries to their pilots, engineers and senior management for quite some time and, therefore, lost a good number of pilots in the recent past.

Hence, the shortage of pilots at the airline has reportedly led to such major harassments for passengers.

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Jet Airways, however, has issued a statement, saying "Jet Airways had to cancel a few domestic flights of date (November 18) due to operational reasons. Guests of the affected flights were duly informed about their flight status via SMS alerts. In accordance with regulatory policy, guests have been re-accommodated and or compensated".

"It regrets the inconvenience caused to its guests," the airline added.

Jet Airways had to cancel a few domestic flights of 18 November due to operational reasons. Guests have been re-accommodated and/or compensated: Jet Airways spokesperson

— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2018

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The Naresh Goyal-controlled private carrier has been facing a shortage of pilots for the last few months and has not hired new ones due to financial issues, the sources added.