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

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 640 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 refreshmentsPassengers in limboShefali Raval a passenger stranded at the airport said ldquoOur flight was initially scheduled for 640 AM on 7th March and I had a connecting flight from Istanbul to Stalkhome but the airlines delayed the flight from 640 to 1150 AM without any proper communication from the airlinesThe flight was then delayed to 200 PM and then 400 PM 800 PM 1030 PM 1040 PM 1130 PM 1230 AM 8th March and then 100 AM At around 200 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 530 PM on March 8 but at least till 4 pm there was no clarity on boarding passesShefali added ldquoEven 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 airlinesrdquoAnother passenger who is a senior citizen requesting anonymity said ldquoI 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 530 PM on 8th March stranded at the airportrdquoShalmali Waingankar another passenger stated ldquoIndigo is testing our patience Flight scheduled to depart at 640 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 happeningrdquoAbhijeet Munot brother of a passenger stranded at the airport said ldquoPassengers of flight 6E17 are stranded at the airport Airlines are grossly mishandling the situation My brother is waiting with a 4monthold 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 airportrdquoChinmay Sankhe another passenger stranded said ldquoWe 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 actionrdquo Another stranded passenger said ldquoI 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 bookingsrdquoNaeem Sheikh told midday ldquoMy 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 airlinesrdquo Another passenger requesting anonymity said ldquoI 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 destinationrdquoAnother 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 lamentedShermin who was also stranded told midday We had to return to the landside of the airport with cancelled visas and it was frustrating Why must we pay for the airlines mistake she saidShermin 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 flights delayed statusWe 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 fortnightThe airlines while arranging refreshments arranged for only nonvegetarian 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 strandedIndigo speaksIn an official statement on 8th March Indigo said ldquoIndiGorsquos 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 passengersrsquo 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 delayrdquoMeanwhile 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 FDTLrdquoThe 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 1130 PM he addedExperts speakAdv Yashwant Shenoy an aviation rights activist while talking to Midday said ldquoPassengers are losers in India DGCA is controlled by airlines and will never come to passengersrsquo rescue No passenger would fight a decadeold 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 writtenrdquoldquoBoth 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 addedCapt Mohan Ranganathan an aviation expert while talking to Midday said ldquoThe 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 passengers benefitHe added ldquoAll 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 airlinesrdquo