The Robber Baron Of Airline Industry
There were robber barons aplenty in the Middle Ages.They held their people to ransom and pressed the last copper penny out of them.Now they seem make a spectacular come-back.The case in question deals with a fraudulent Indian owned airline.
Travelling in the Middle Ages was a chancy business.You could fall prey to common robbers in a stretch of wood or out in no-man’s-land.Then there were the many toll booths, some of them authorised by a king or emperor, but more often just highway robbery perpetrated by local feudal lords.
Now, the robber barons are back.Air passengers on their way from India to the United Kingdom became victims of an ingenious rip-off.A fraudulent shack business calling itself an airline by the name of Comtel made a (for the passengers) unplanned stop-over in Vienna, Austria.The crew then informed the passengers that they had to pay 130 Pounds Sterling (152 Euros; 205 Dollars) immediately or they would be left stranded in Vienna.In civilised countries, this behaviour is called blackmail.
Airlines offer a deplorable service at the best of times.Travellers have got used to it.Low cost airlines are amongst the most inventive in adding surcharges nobody has ever heard of.When adding up all the hidden surcharges of cheap airlines, the traveller later has to admit that flying with a regular airline would have been cheaper.And everyone has got used to the idea that they will go thirsty and hungry on a flight if they don’t fork out money for overpriced drinks and dry and tasteless sandwiches.But the crown has to go to Comtel.Despite fully paid tickets (!), the crew had the gall to demand a fuel surcharge on-flight and threaten passengers with eviction from the flight.It’s a novel way of doing business, no doubt.
Passengers travelling with the Indian charter airline Comtel from Amritsar in India to Birmingham in the United Kingdom were the victims of this fraud.After the plane had landed for a refuelling stop in Vienna, astonished (and later outraged) passengers were asked to cough up a total of 20,000 Pounds (23,400 Euros; 31,600 Dollars) immediately.Cash only, please (otherwise Indian tax authorities would want their share, no doubt).
Crew members had the pleasant task of informing their passengers that they had to pay or leave the plane.If they didn’t have enough cash to pay up immediately, they were asked to leave and try to raise the money any which way in Vienna airport or they would be left behind.Several passengers got stranded in Vienna that way.Only children under two years were exempted from the additional payment.
The rip-off is unprecedented even in the travel industry.Passengers were outraged when they arrived in Birmingham.Most had paid just to avoid being stranded in Austria.Bhupinder Kandra, the robber baron at the head of the fraudulent enterprise and largest shareholder of the charter company Comtel wanted to shunt responsibility for the blackmail to the travel agencies.These, according to him, had not forwarded the ticket payments to Comtel.In the blackmailer’s books, that is not his problem.He also wanted to make people believe that Comtel is not bankrupt.
Authorities in the United Kingdom have taken up the case.Birmingham airport has cancelled all Comtel flights for the weekend in a first step.It is essential that all airports are closed down for such ventures in the interest of travel security.One may only imagine with what kind of scrap metal a bankrupt airline is flying.
For travellers, this means that they should never book a Comtel flight.If you have already booked one, check if you have the possibility to cancel it with a refund.Even if you get only part of your money back, it will be cheaper than having to pay the whole fair over and over again every time the airplane dips down to a new airport.
And my tip to Bhupinder Kandra: If you are unable to run a proper business, go raise chickens.They don’t mind being cheated, either, unlike customers
.
Sources and further reading:
Comtel Air Amritsar to Birmingham Passengers to be Helped
Passengers Held to Ransom in Vienna; video
Comtel Air - Wikipedia
Comtel Air Holds Passengers Hostage