IndiGo Apologizes for Massive Flight Cancellations and Offers Full Refund to Affected Passengers

IndiGo has promised to process all refunds for the cancelled flights to customers' original payment methods.

New Delhi:

IndiGo issued a formal apology on Friday to all passengers affected by the extensive disruption caused by flight delays and cancellations over four consecutive days. In a statement shared on X, the airline assured customers that they would provide a complete waiver on all cancellation and rescheduling requests for bookings between December 5 and December 15.

"To each one of our customers - We are truly sorry and we will take care!!! We do deeply apologize and understand how difficult the past few days have been for many of you. While this will not get resolved overnight, we assure you that we will do everything in our capacity to help you in the meantime and to bring our operations back to normal at the earliest. We are known for our reliability but in these last few days we have a serious operational crisis. For many customers, their journeys were cancelled, and many of you were at the airports, with long wait times and little information," IndiGo stated.

The airline disclosed that it has recorded its highest number of flight cancellations today, with all domestic flights departing from Delhi cancelled until midnight.

"We are doing all that is necessary to reboot all our systems and schedules for progressive improvement starting tomorrow. Our teams are working to reinstate regular operations in alignment with the Ministry and DGCA. Short-term proactive cancellations are being made to ease operations, decongest the airports to prepare for starting stronger tomorrow," they explained.

IndiGo committed to ensuring that all refunds for the cancellations will be processed through customers' original payment methods. The airline also mentioned that they have secured thousands of hotel rooms across various cities for stranded passengers and arranged surface transportation.

"We are trying to ensure that food and snacks are being provided to our waiting customers at the airports. Lounge access is being arranged for senior citizens, wherever possible," the airline added.

They further advised, "Kindly check the flight status on our website and the notifications sent to you. Please do not come to the airport if your flight is cancelled. We are sorry for the wait time, we have massively increased our contact centre capacity to ease some wait times. Our Al assistant 6Eskai can help with flight status, refunds, and rebookings golndiGo.in/6Eskai. We want you to know that you will see incremental progress."

Chaotic scenes persisted at airports throughout India as IndiGo struggled with operational challenges, resulting in over 1,300 flight cancellations. NDTV documented the situation firsthand, revealing thousands of suitcases abandoned at Delhi airport terminals.

Many passengers were forced to sleep on the floor, while others expressed their frustration through angry outbursts and protests against the airline.

IndiGo has acknowledged that it miscalculated crew requirements under new regulations and experienced planning deficiencies, leading to insufficient crew availability during a period already complicated by winter weather conditions and airport congestion.