IndiGo's Bombay-Istanbul flight passengers stranded at Mumbai airport over 40 hours

Passengers stranded at Mumbai airport. Representational Image/File Pic

Passengers on IndiGo flight 6E17 (Bombay to Istanbul) have been stranded at the Mumbai airport for over 40 hours leaving the passengers in limbo. The flight 6E17 was initially scheduled to fly from Mumbai airport at 6:40 AM on 7th March but was delayed and eventually cancelled citing technical issues with the aircraft. The flight was delayed for more than 12 hours before it was cancelled. While IndiGo claims that they have adhered to all the DGCA guidelines, the stranded passengers claim that they were left at the airport without any proper accommodation and refreshments.

Passengers in limbo:

Shefali Raval, a passenger stranded at the airport said, "Our flight was initially scheduled for 6:40 AM on 7th March and I had a connecting flight from Istanbul to Stalkhome but the airlines delayed the flight from 6:40 to 11:50 AM without any proper communication from the airlines."

"The flight was then delayed to 2:00 PM and then 4:00 PM, 8:00 PM, 10:30 PM, 10:40 PM, 11:30 PM, 12:30 AM (8th March) and then 1:00 AM. At around 2:00 AM, the flight was declared to be cancelled by the airlines. The representative told us to either cancel the booking and get a refund or go to a hotel," the she said. The passenger claimed that the airline said that they had arranged for an alternate flight for 5:30 PM on March 8, but at least till 4 pm, there was no clarity on boarding passes.

Shefali added, "Even, many senior citizens and kids stranded at the terminal are very much neglected by the airlines. Around 350 passengers were stranded at the terminal who were supposed to be boarded on the said flight. People in wheelchairs are also severely neglected by the airlines."

Another passenger who is a senior citizen requesting anonymity said, "I am travelling with my husband and had a medical appointment In Norway for which we had a connecting flight from Istanbul. Sadly, due to a technical emergency, the flight was delayed and we had to postpone the appointment. I am not sure how Indigo is planning to accommodate us in separate flights as the number of passengers stranded here is quite high. Some of us choose to take the refund option but the rest of us are still (5:30 PM on 8th March) stranded at the airport."

Shalmali Waingankar another passenger stated, "Indigo is testing our patience. Flight scheduled to depart at 6:40 on 7th March has still not departed. The officials from the airlines said that there was a technical issue with the flight but they should have at least accommodated us in some other flight. The communication is so much delayed from Indigo that we are very much not sure what is happening."

Abhijeet Munot, brother of a passenger stranded at the airport said, "Passengers of flight 6E17 are stranded at the airport. Airlines are grossly mishandling the situation. My brother is waiting with a 4-month-old baby for alternate flight arrangements. There are many more such stranded passengers at the airport. The Authorities should take stringent action against the airlines for causing such huge mismanagement and making the passengers stranded at the airport."

Chinmay Sankhe, another passenger stranded said, "We are stranded here for over 30 hours now. The airline is completely responsible for this mishap. Even the regulatory bodies seem to be not taking any such action." Another stranded passenger said, "I had planned a vacation in Istanbul as we had a long weekend considering all the holidays. The flight was delayed so much that we had no other choice than to take a refund and cancel all our hotel bookings. Is the airline going to reimburse the cost of all the cancelled hotel bookings?"

Naeem Sheikh told midday, "My mother is stranded at the airport. She was supposed to be here (Istanbul) by yesterday. Her age is 73. This is very disappointing as she is stranded all by herself at the airport. We need a proper explanation about this from the airlines." Another passenger requesting anonymity said, "I had a connecting flight from Istanbul but that was missed. The airline is not even ready to arrange another connecting flight from Istanbul now. How am I supposed to reach my destination."

Another stranded passenger said they had planned a vacation in Istanbul given the long weekend. "The flight was delayed so much that we had no other choice other than to accept a refund and cancel all our hotel bookings. Is the airline going to reimburse the cost of all the cancelled hotel bookings," the passenger lamented.

Shermin, who was also stranded, told mid-day, "We had to return to the land-side of the airport with cancelled visas and it was frustrating. Why must we pay for the airlines' mistake," she said.

Shermin added that the officials from IndiGo did not appraise them about the situation initially and that they had not received any notifications via SMS or emails on the flight's delayed status.

"We reached the airport at 1 am on Match 7 and were stranded there for over 12 hours. The airlines only provided some refreshments at 2 am the following day (March 8)," Shermin explained and further said that the airlines also requested the passengers to manage accommodations since hotels from their end were full and claimed they would be reimbursed for accommodation costs within a fortnight.

The airlines while arranging refreshments arranged for only non-vegetarian food (chicken). Those who do not consume meat had to pay for their meals. Since it was the day of Mahashivratri, several passengers chose to not consume the refreshments which left them starving. I am scared since they called the police force when we began questioning the flight crew at 2 AM for leaving us stranded."

Indigo speaks:

In an official statement on 8th March, Indigo said, "IndiGo's flight 6E18 from Mumbai to Istanbul, has been delayed due to a technical issue with the incoming aircraft from Istanbul. Passengers for this flight are being accommodated on 2 special flights operated by A32x aircraft and, we are currently working with the regulator to obtain the requisite clearances at the earliest. At this moment, ensuring passengers' comfort caused by this unforeseen situation is our top priority and we are providing alternate options, rescheduling, and refunds as per norms. IndiGo sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience resulting from this delay."

Meanwhile, sources from CISF informed midday that the special flights were delayed due to insufficient cabin crew and flight duty time limitations (FDTL). The first special flight was arranged with a cockpit crew but flight crew could not be arranged for quite some time due to FDTL."

"The two special flights arranged are again delayed" said a spokesperson from indigo "latest departure timings according to our records for first first flight will be 11 PM and second flight will be 11:30 PM" he added.

Experts speak:

Adv. Yashwant Shenoy, an aviation rights activist, while talking to Midday said, "Passengers are losers in India. DGCA is controlled by airlines and will never come to passengers' rescue. No passenger would fight a decade-old battle in courts to claim a few thousand. Even if the stranded passengers decide to lodge a complaint with the DGCA or MoCA, no help will be provided. The complaints made to DGCA or the MoCA will not be worth the paper on which it is written."

"Both the DGCA and the MoCA know that these passengers will not approach the Judicial system because the system is slow. The claims that these passengers can make are much less than the amount they will have to spend on their lawyers to pursue the matter all the way to the highest court. For an airline, it is easy to take the big names and fight two passengers. For the two passengers what is at stake is a few thousand, but what is at stake for the airlines is a few crores, because if the two passengers win it, they will be exposed to thousands of passengers who will all sue the airlines. This is about taking chances and airlines can easily take these chances because people give up," he added.

Capt. Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation expert while talking to Midday said, "The airline industry is customer oriented but off late it is becoming more like the passenger has no options. Another very important thing is that once a boarding pass is issued to a passenger, it is a contract between the passenger and the airline where it is the airlines responsibility in cases of delays and cancellations, the airlines have to take care of all the expenses like arranging for an alternate flight in cases of cancellations and deboarding along with providing refreshments to the passengers. In such conditions, the regulator is playing into the hands of the airlines. The CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) has never been enforced in any such cases. Airlines are the ones controlling the DGCA which is why no stringent action is been taken. The refund rules are loaded towards the airlines and not to the passenger's benefit.

He added, "All the rules that the ministry and DGCA have formed have several grey areas which the airlines can use and deny repayments or refunds resulting in an increased amount of tension and conflicts between airlines and passengers. The staff has also become rude off late in some of the airlines."