Air India has promised to give a full-fare refund and vouchers to all passengers who were on-board the Delhi-San Francisco flight when it underwent an engine issue, and as a result, had to make an emergency landing in Magadan, Russia.
In an attempt to make further amends to the 216 passengers of the Boeing 777-200LR aircraft of Tata Group-owned flight chain, Air India, will also be providing vouchers for future travel.
Flight AI 173 from New Delhi to San Francisco, had to deviate from its original route and make an emergency landing at the port town of Magadan in the Russian Far East after the flight found a complication in one of the engines. The halt at Magadan lasted for a total of 39 hours as the process of arranging an alternate aircraft was lengthy due to Russian flight-clearance formalities.
The town of Magadan doesn’t have a lot of hotels which could accommodate all 232 passengers and crew members; so they had to settle for makeshift arrangements of stay in a school.
#AI173 with 216 passengers stuck in Magadan, Russia since 2 pm IST Tue 6/6 after technical issues. Passengers staying at makeshift accommodation in a nearby school. Conditions have become miserable, no updates from @airindia, bad food. Crew not helping. @PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar pic.twitter.com/05NprP9PCw
— Dipankar Niranjan (@dip_niranjan) June 7, 2023
A spokesperson for Air India said, "We will fully refund the fare for the journey and, in addition, provide a voucher for future travel to the passengers on Air India."
In addition, the passengers who were onboard AI 173, were handed out an apology letter from Air India.
The replacement Air India Delhi to San Francisco flight finally landed in San Francisco on June 8.