Air India has found itself in a controversy after several of passengers complained that their scheduled flight from New York to Delhi was canceled so that their plane could be used as a chartered flight to ferry Team India from Barbados to Delhi.

The T20 World Cup winning team was forced to stay in Barbados longer than expected due to Hurricane Beryl. They finally took the flight home on Wednesday from Grantley Adams International Airport on a chartered flight with a special call sign - AIC24WC - Air India Champions 24 World Cup.

An Air India official stated that passengers did not face any inconvenience due to the substitution of the Boeing 777 aircraft. The official also stated that the affected passengers to Delhi were notified well ahead of departure time.

And those passengers who missed the notifications were taken to another airport and accommodated on the next flight. However, the passengers gave a totally different account of things.   

“Air India is lying. I am one of the affected passengers and I was not offered any alternative to travel on partner airlines,” wrote a certain Ankur Verma.

Another Air India passenger Ajay Awtaney complained about a last-minute cancellation posting a screenshot of his cancelled New York-Delhi flight.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has gotten involved and has asked for a detailed report from Air India on this situation.

As per DGCA rules, to be able to operate a non-scheduled international flight, an airline cannot take away from scheduled operations. “For the operation of charter flights by scheduled operators, there shall be no disruption to their scheduled flights,” says the rule.

The special chartered flight carrying the Indian cricket team took off around 4:50 am local time on Wednesday and landed in New Delhi on Thursday at around 7 AM IST .