Viral: Delhi Woman Slams IndiGo Over 8-Hour Flight Delay, Airline Reacts

A Delhi-based woman criticised IndiGo Airlines after her friend's flight from the national capital to Hyderabad was delayed for over 8 hours. The flight, scheduled to depart at 9:30 pm on April 11, eventually took off at 5:37 am on April 12. Dirgha Gupta shared a post on LinkedIn, voicing frustration over the setback and slamming the airline for their "mismanagement, misinformation, and apathy." Sharing a video from the flight, Dirgha wrote, "What should've been a smooth 2-hour flight turned into a 9+ hour ordeal - marked by mismanagement, misinformation, and apathy."

She added, "False claims of weather delay, despite clear skies and operational flights. Missing crew, misleading updates every 20-30 minutes. Passengers kept waiting in buses, bitten by mosquitoes. No meals, no support, no accountability. Ground staff casually said: 'We can't do anything'."

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In the video, many passengers are seen out of their seats and crowding around airline staff, while others check the overhead bins. Dirgha alleged, "From 9:30 PM to 5 AM, we were left helpless and exhausted. This isn't a delay - it's a gross violation of passenger rights under Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Section 3 - Air Transport, Series M, Part IV." She concluded, "Passengers deserve better." See the full post here. 

In response, IndiGo acknowledged the inconvenience but attributed the delay to a "severe thunderstorm" and "heavy air traffic congestion" beyond their control. "Ms. Gupta, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. The delay to your flight was caused by a severe thunderstorm over Delhi last evening, followed by heavy air traffic congestion, both of which, unfortunately, were beyond our control. We hope you understand that weather-related disruptions often lead to operational challenges, and in this instance, they resulted in an additional delay. We truly appreciate your patience and support throughout," the airline stated. 

However, Dirgha wasn't satisfied with the response. In a follow-up post, she mentioned that other flights took off without issues and operations resumed at 9 pm. According to her, passengers were denied the opportunity to disembark even at 4:30 am and were stranded on the plane for over three hours with minimal communication. "Thank you for your response, but I disagree with this misleading explanation... We were kept on the aircraft for over 3 hours with minimal communication and were denied deplaning at 4:30 AM despite repeated requests." IndiGo has not yet responded to Dirgha's follow-up post.

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