MADURAI: Kanyakumari District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed an airlines to pay compensation and refund ticket fare to a complainant due to deficiency in service, sources said on Saturday.

The complainant Stephen, of Kombavilai, Kanyakumari district, booked flight tickets costing Rs. 2,29,820 to travel along with his wife and family members from Trivandrum airport to Atlanta via Delhi, London and Chicago. However, the complainant, who boarded the flight, along with his family from Trivandrum, could not catch connecting flights to reach Atlanta, as the first flight was delayed. The flight, which took off from Trivandrum airport at 7.20 pm, was scheduled to land at Delhi at 10.35 pm but landed at 1.05 am. He missed the connecting flights through London and Chicago. Moreover, the airliner also acknowledged the delay and issued the flight delay certificate. Finally, the complainant Stephen booked travel tickets again and boarded another flight and reached Atlanta. When the complainant approached the airliner to refund the travel expenses for which he did not make it, the airliner denied it. Stephen then took the issue to the legal body and subsequently, a legal notice was issued seeking action and even then, there was no response. The president of the Commission Suresh and its Member A Sankar directed the airline to pay Rs 2,29,500 lakh towards the fare, Rs 1 lakh for causing him mental agony. The airline should also pay Rs 5,000 as the cost of complaint.

The complainant had missed connecting flights to Atlanta as the first flight to Delhi was delayed