AC shut-off, delay in take-off irks passengers of Mumbai-Ahmedabad Akasa flight, airline responds

Around 170 passengers had a bitter experience aboard a Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight. The flight was delayed by two hours because the pilot’s duty hours had ended, and to make matters worse, the air conditioning was switched off during the waiting period.

According to reports, the Akasa Mumbai-Ahmedabad flight was scheduled to depart at 9.10 pm on Wednesday from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. Passengers began boarding at around 8.15 pm, and most of them were seated by 8.45 pm. That’s when the trouble began. 

The air conditioning inside the aircraft was not working. When passengers raised complaints, the pilot gave a feeble excuse that the AC would start functioning properly once the flight was airborne.

By 9 pm, the heat inside the cabin reportedly became unbearable, prompting two passengers to request for deboarding. Acceding to their request and unloading their baggage took around 20 minutes. During this time, the pilot announced that his duty hours had ended and a new pilot would take over.

Hitesh Patel, a passenger aboard, stated, “A new pilot arrived at 10.35 pm, and the flight finally took off at 11.10 pm. The air conditioning remained off until the flight took off, causing extreme discomfort. The crew did not provide any satisfactory explanation.”

Responding to Gujarat Samachar Digital, an Akasa spokesperson said, “A group of passengers travelling on flight QP1528, scheduled to operate from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on July 23, 2025, raised concerns regarding cabin temperature while the aircraft was preparing for takeoff and requested to be offloaded. In line with standard protocol and prioritising passenger comfort, the aircraft returned to the bay and the passengers were offloaded per their request. Our engineering team inspected the cabin and confirmed that the temperature was normal. The flight subsequently departed from Mumbai at 2237hrs (10.37 pm).”