There seems to be more friction in the way flights from/to India will operate in the coming days, and we can anticipate more difficulties and confusion in the times ahead. United seems to be one of the airlines which appears to have been affected by some new change implemented at Delhi Airport. On April 22, 2021, the flight eventually flew back with fewer passengers and the flight for April 23, 2021, was cancelled.

The Backstory

Here is the update from United Airlines on the flight to operate from April 22, 2021, between Delhi and Newark. The “unconfirmed” requirements seem to be about RT-PCR Testing at Delhi Airport, where the crew refused and flew back on the plane, taking back along any crew in Delhi hosted for operating future flights as well.

This @united Boeing-777 which was supposed to operate as UA-802 will land with zero paseengers

Crew was asked to pass through RT-PCR test which they refused & flew back

India has exempted crew of only quick turnaround flights (where crew stay in aircraft) from test
#aviation pic.twitter.com/VBseEuKTJI

— Arindam Majumder (@ari_maj) April 23, 2021

The customers were not impressed, and United did not want to leave any crew behind, offering up to USD 5000 for people to drop out of the flight for the evening.

@UnitedAirlines at delhi airport UA802 is not flying because united staff is asking volunteers to give up their seats for 12 crew members and offering 5000 dollars for giving up… what is thisn?? Is this true?? Can united officials confirm this as my daughter has to reach urgent

— DeepakSharmaSpeaks (@dsharmaspeaks) April 22, 2021

@united flight UA802 boarding at Delhi airport is a total chaos. Your teams are making passengers suffer for your poor planning. It is unprofessional #unitedAIRLINES you guys need to stop this behavior

— Manish Mehta (@manishmehtas) April 22, 2021

Subsequently, the flight between Delhi and Newark for April 23, 2021, was cancelled, owing to “ongoing CoVid-19 travel requirement discussions with local authorities.”

As per MoneyControl, who received a statement from United,

As we seek clarity regarding COVID-19 travel requirements to India, we have temporarily suspended service to DEL for April 22 and canceled the corresponding return flights. We are working to provide alternate options to our customers and plan to resume our scheduled service as soon as possible.

The UA899 Delhi – Chicago and UA868 Delhi – San Francisco have been cancelled for April 24, 2021.

Update: As per more reporting by the Business Standard, the flights are set to resume from April 25, 2021.

United Airlines to resume flights from Delhi to the United States from Sunday 25 April https://t.co/p1oEHROHsP

— aneesh phadnis (@aneeshp) April 24, 2021

Bottomline

United has cancelled flights from India in the foreseeable future, and per social media, customers have been offered flights into Mid-May 2021 with current cancellations. Air India, although, looks okay to operate flights at the moment between India and the USA non-stop.

This is another one of those big stops where Indians will face troubles in the days ahead travelling outside the country, this time to the USA. Check before you leave home.

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