Flyers made to sit for close to 3 hours after Pune-bound IndiGo flight suffers technical problem in Lucknow airport

Pune: What was supposed to be a comfortable journey home turned out to be a frustrating experience for more than 100 passengers after their IndiGo flight developed a technical glitch during taxiing in Lucknow airport on late Tuesday evening and returned to the bay where they were not allowed to deboard before it took off nearly three hours later.
A flyer said the aircraft (6E-118) was to leave Lucknow at 9.25pm and land in Pune by 11.30pm. "The flight started to taxi towards the runway at the right time but stopped after a few minutes. All of us remained quiet, but after around half an hour, many started asking questions," he said.
When it again headed towards the bay area, passengers realised that there was some issue, another flyer said. "Many enquired with the cabin crew but did not get a satisfactory answer. Some said they heard the crew discussing a technical problem. What was painful in this whole exercise was that we were not deboarded. Had that been done, we could have been comfortable at the airport's terminal building. Some flyers too demanded it, but no one paid any heed," the passenger said.
The airline, in a statement, said that the aircraft, an Airbus A-321, suffered a technical problem. "IndiGo flight 6E-118 operating from Lucknow to Pune returned to the bay due to a technical issue. It then underwent necessary maintenance, and after all checks were completed, it was cleared for departure. IndiGo remains committed to providing safe and seamless travel to its customers," the statement said.
The flight finally took off from Lucknow around 12.17am on Wednesday and touched down in Pune at 1.54am.
The second flyer, quoted above, said airlines were in the habit of hassling flyers frequently. "In order to save costs, they do a lot of things. Around two months ago, I had a similar experience when we kept sitting in the aircraft for over an hour. We do not complain and understand that a technical issue can stall a flight. But it makes no sense for the airlines to keep passengers in the aircraft. How can senior citizens and children just be seated like this?"