Delays, cancellations, lack of accountability Over 20 IndiGo flights cancelled from Nagpur in 3 days

 

 

 

Inadequate crew members, non-following of rules of Directorate of General Civil Aviation (DGCA), compelled IndiGo airlines to cancel all of its flights on Friday. In last three days in Nagpur, almost 21 flights have been cancelled leading to over 2,000 passengers suffering. Some passengers en route to Nagpur are stranded at various airports in the country. Several flights of IndiGo are grounded at Nagpur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.

 

This has also resulted in sharp rise in fare of other airlines. One-way economy flight tickets to Mumbai and Delhi touched Rs 22,000, while fares to some other destinations across the country surged to Rs 50,000, with no seats available before December 6. In one incident, a Bengaluru–Nagpur IndiGo flight was cancelled. Nagpur’s known scientist and Professor attached to LITU Dr Bharat Bhanavase had to run from pillar to post to come to Nagpur. Airline staff too are feeling frustrated due to this chaotic situation. The cancellations affected flights from Nagpur to Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Goa, crippling both departures and incoming connections. 

 

 

Airlines passengers still continue to grapple with uncertainties, as every other day, new twist gets added to ongoing drama in the country owing to shortage of pilots. In a new episode, passengers on busy Nagpur-Pune route were left stranded as an IndiGo flight got diverted to Hyderabad. Sunil Nikhar, sharing the ordeal, said, “When the scheduled flight took off late, though distressed, I thanked my stars, but very soon found that early celebrations can often turn into sorrow. Just as the flight was approaching Pune, the cabin crew delivered a twist saying that no bay was available at Pune. We are diverted to Hyderabad.” The announcement stunned passengers already worn thin by uncertainty, yet Sunil soon realised his experience was just a fragment of a much larger breakdown. Nagpur airport was facing a meltdown of sort, as it was hit by wave of flight disruptions. The airport that remained busy other day wore a deserted look as regular flights were cancelled by airlines, grappling with new regulation that revised the working hours of pilots, creating a sudden shortage.

 

After severe aviation disruption on Thursday, IndiGo cancelled 11 flights and delayed several others on Friday. It has thrown travel plans across cities into disarray. Sunil’s flight, scheduled to take off at 11.30 pm, remained on the tarmac for nearly three hours. In another incident, a Kolkata-Pune IndiGo aircraft carrying 162 passengers was diverted to Nagpur, only to be cancelled because Pune Airport had no parking bays available. Across the night, passengers repeatedly boarded and deboarded aircraft, shuttled between coaches, and waited for information that rarely arrived. Many believed the turmoil stemmed from a shortage of pilots; others heard conflicting explanations. The ripple effects were wide and immediate. Flights connecting Nagpur to Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Goa were disrupted.

 

This collapsed both outbound schedules and incoming links. Travellers with urgent responsibilities - medical appointments, interviews, educational commitments, office deadlines, found their plans derailed with no recourse and no meaningful assistance from staff. Among those affected was Milind Sohone, travelling from Mumbai to Nagpur to attend a family function. He had paid a steep fare to save time, yet the evening stretched into a sequence of delays. “My flight was supposed to take off at 4.30,” he said, “but it kept being pushed by an hour each time until it finally departed at 9.” The frustration for him went beyond the lost time. What stung was absolute lack of accountability. “People pay huge amounts to fly because time matters. When these inconveniences become routine, the whole purpose is defeated,” he said, adding that the unresponsiveness of staff deepened the distress. He believes the Government must intervene decisively and enforce stronger protections for travellers. Hitesh Khodani was supposed to board IndiGo flight 6E-5174 to Mumbai on December 4. “But I received a message from IndiGo a day before informing me that the flight had been revised due to ‘operational reasons’.

 

We booked the ticket through MakeMyTrip, so we contacted their customer care executive. The executive told us that IndiGo has not been answering any calls for the last two days. I had a connecting flight from Mumbai to London-Heathrow to Toronto the next day. I tried alternative options to reach Mumbai, but no flights were available. Finally, I had to book an AI 2584 flight at an exorbitant price of Rs 24,632 in order to catch my international flight,” he explained. City-based chartered accountant Amit Lukka said he could not attend an important meeting scheduled in Mumbai because of the flight cancellation. Udayan Gutgutia and his wife had planned to attend a marriage ceremony in Mumbai. However, their flight got cancelled and they eventually missed the ceremony. In addition to the passengers, travel agents are also suffering due to the continued chaotic situation. Some agents told The Hitavada that they are finding it difficult to pacify their clients. Amamraj Nigam, founder of Ahana Escapes travel agency based in the city, said the situation has gone from bad to worse on Friday.

 

“There are clouds of uncertainty and most of the passengers are running from pillar to post to get updated information. Neither the website of the company is working nor any of their representatives are picking up phone calls. In such a difficult situation, clients are approaching us. We really do not know how to deal with them at this point in time,” he said. Another travel agent, on a condition of anonymity, said that passengers who had booked hotels or tickets for onward journeys are the worst sufferers. “In many cases the travellers are not getting refunds from the respective hotels, which is causing financial losses. It is also impacting our payments,” he added. The events that transpired on Thursday and Friday offered a glimpse into a system struggling to keep pace with demand, while passengers bear the consequences without clarity or support. In an era where air travel is marketed as efficient and dependable, the experience of Sunil, Milind, and hundreds of others poses a pressing question: Who is accountable when the machinery falters, and what will it take to restore trust in the skies?