At least 46 IndiGo flights cancelled from Pune today as chaos intensifies

Some passengers reported waiting for hours with no assurance of an alternative. “We are here for four hours. Our 12 pm flight to Jodhpur (6E-133) was cancelled. They are saying it will take at least 10 to 15 days to get any other flight,” said Deepali Shinde.

Others decided to abandon travel plans altogether. “I had a flight to Nagpur yesterday (Thursday) at 5 am. They rescheduled it to 11 pm and kept delaying it. Now I don’t want to go. I’m here for the refund, and I’m standing in the line for two hours; it’s so frustrating,” said Suraj Ghatkamble.

For many, the struggle stretched well beyond half a day. “My 1 am flight to Bengaluru (6E-361) was moved to 1 pm, and now it’s cancelled. I’ve been at the airport for more than 12 hours,” said Adil Mustaqueem.

Some passengers faced health risks. “Our Pune to Goa flight (6E-919) was at 11.55 pm (on Thursday), and they kept delaying it till 4 am. I’m pregnant, it was extremely difficult for me to wait that long, so we finally left,” said Jaya Rajwani, who returned to the airport to retrieve her baggage.

The cancellations also disrupted major family events. “We were supposed to travel from Pune to Bengaluru (6E-133) for my cousin’s son’s wedding. I was here from Canada just for the wedding. We had to cancel 15 tickets. Lakhs of rupees gone,” said Ravi Bhutoria.

Delayed landings also added to the airport chaos, worsening the confusion for passengers already struggling with cancellations. “My parents’ 9 pm Pune to Kolkata flight (6E-476) left this morning at 9.35 am, but four hours later, we still don’t know where the flight is, and these people are of no help,” said Anuk Chowdhury.

Jagdish Urkude, Joint General Manager (Ops), Airports Authority of India, said, “We can’t let other airlines suffer due to IndiGo’s mismanagement. We have had 46 cancellations up to 4 pm… we are still trying to accommodate IndiGo, we are handling their situation case-wise, today was the worst-hit day with maximum cancellations. The situation will be comparatively normal from tomorrow.”

(Ruta Patil is an intern with The Indian Express)