Air India passengers stranded at Chicago airport; await clarity on flight to Delhi
New Delhi, Mar 15: Around 300 passengers of Air India are stranded at Chicago airport since Tuesday after their flight to the national capital was cancelled due to technical reasons, with some passengers complaining that there is still no clarity on when they will be able to fly to Delhi.
The flight was to depart from Chicago O'hare International Airport at 13.30 hours (local time) on Tuesday and land in Delhi at 14.20 hours on March 15.
Gopal Krishan Solanki Radhaswami, who was to take the flight, told PTI on Wednesday that passengers have been waiting for around 24 hours and still the "airline does not have an answer for us".
"We don't know what exactly is going on... we don't know when we are going to fly," he said in a video message that was recorded from the Chicago airport.
Another passenger said over the phone that they have been waiting at the airport for nearly 24 hours and are not sure when they can take the flight to Delhi.
According to the two persons, there are around 300 Air India passengers, including foreigners.
When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said that flight AI 126 had to be cancelled due to technical reasons on March 14.
"The affected passengers were offered all-round support and every effort is being made to accommodate them on alternate flights. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers," the spokesperson said in a statement.
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Had a very good conversation with friend Modi: Trump
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had a "very good conversation" with his "friend" Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He was referring to the talks the two leaders had on Tuesday.
"I had a very good talk with him, and he's a friend of mine from India, and he's doing great. We had a very good conversation," Trump told reporters here as he headed to Las Vegas to address a roundtable on tax cuts.
Trump had called Modi on Tuesday to discuss the bilateral relationship and share perspectives on the situation in West Asia, where the US and Israel have launched a war on Iran.
The US and Iran declared a two-week ceasefire on April 7. They engaged in peace talks with Washington, insisting that Tehran give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons and uranium enrichment.
The war with Iran has sent gas prices soaring as Tehran blocked the sea lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway for a fifth of global oil supplies.
During the Trump-Modi phone call on Tuesday, the two leaders stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.
According to the US Ambassador to India Sergei Gor, the 40-minute conversation ended with Trump telling Modi, "we all love you".
Tuesday's phone call was the second between the two leaders since the US-Israel war with Iran began on February 28.
