Air India grounds 19 students to US
They alleged that their colleagues taking other airlines were allowed to travel.
Hyderabad: An e-mail sent by the Air India sales team asking its staff not to issue air tickets to students travelling to San Francisco with admissions to Silicon Valley University, San Jose, and North Western Polytechnic University, Fremont, both in California, resulted in the airline stopping 19 students at the Shamshabad airport on Saturday night.
The e-mail stated: “The students travelling to SFO with student visa and i20 from the following universities are not to be issued tickets as the two universities are blacklisted. Please inform all your staff and care to be taken while issuing the tickets.”
Students who booked their tickets with Air India were in for a rude shock when they were stopped at the airport. They alleged that their colleagues taking other airlines were allowed to travel. Students got into arguments with the staff, asking how they could be stopped when they were issued visas.