06 December,2025 09:34 AM IST | Mumbai | Madhulika Ram Kavattur
The busy IndiGo counter outside Terminal 1 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Friday. Pic/Madhulika Ram Kavattur
The hopes of fliers expecting the IndiGo crisis to subside in a reasonable amount of time were cruelly shattered on Friday, with the airline stating that the issue was not resolvable overnight and it was trying to ensure normalcy would be restored at the earliest.
A statement posted by the carrier on social media read, "Today [December 5] should be the day with the highest number of cancellations, as we are doing all that is necessary to reboot all our systems and schedules for progressive improvement starting tomorrow."
While the Mumbai airport is still reeling, some normalcy has returned to its Pune counterpart, where, apart from the IndiGo issue, other airlines' schedules haven't been hit. The Pune Airport, in a statement, said, "Pune Airport reports a steady return to normalcy for the period from 12 am to 5 pm on December 5, with all interruptions and flight disruptions now confined solely to IndiGo. All other airlines adhered fully to their planned schedules."
Karina Ostwal was finding it difficult to get a flight to Bangalore, where she was to be engaged on Friday. Ostwal had obtained a ticket for a 10 pm flight on Thursday, but she told mid-day that the delay lasted till 2.30 pm on Friday.
"We sat for so long at the airport because they kept saying that, though the flight was ready, they didn't have pilots and crew. We, and a few passengers from a Mumbai to Chennai flight, finally called the Mumbai Police, who were able to persuade the crew to start the boarding process."
Though the flight took off at 2.33 pm, Ostwal's engagement had to be postponed, not only because of the flight's delay but also because her luggage was not yet with her. "My engagement lehenga was in my suitcase, and other than maybe 10 people on my flight, no one got their bags at the airport. After we approached IndiGo staffers for our luggage, they made us fill out a form, which lasted an hour."
Chinmay Patil, who booked his tickets well in advance, was one of those who had been waiting for over 12 hours for their flight. Catching a connecting flight from Delhi to Mumbai via Goa, Patil said, "My flight was scheduled to depart for Goa on December 3. I reached the airport early, only to realise that my flight would be delayed by an hour, which is normal and acceptable. However, later there was another delay, lasting almost four hours."
Reaching Goa, Patil and his colleagues faced further delays, and the flight, which was supposed to take them to Mumbai, did not take off till 9.30 am. "Even though we reached Mumbai by noon, we couldn't get off the flight immediately as there were no gates available for our plane to dock at. Finally, by 12.30 pm, we got off the flight. It ended up feeling like we had crossed vast oceans."
Patil and his co-passengers also complain that food vouchers, which they were supposed to get due to the delay, were not given to them till they started complaining, which also took them "a few hours to receive."
Maitreyee Kelkar, travelling back to Mumbai from Bangalore, was not in a hurry, but a wait of over 14 hours tests anyone's patience. "The airline at first didn't warn us about any delays. An hour before the scheduled departure, we received a message saying our boarding had started, so we ran to the gate, but seeing us run, the crew at the desk was confused, which is when we got to know that our flight had been delayed till 11.45 pm," she said.
As the new departure time arrived, the passengers were notified that the flight had been further delayed. "At 7 am, we finally boarded the flight. After this, we waited for three hours for the airline to sort out our baggage. We finally reached around noon," she added.
Though she was one of the passengers who faced heavy delays, she still feels empathetic towards the crew who were handling all the passengers. She said, "It is not their fault that all this happened, and their patience is something that should be lauded."
mid-day on December 4 also came across passengers flying out of the Pune airport who due to the cancellation of their flight, missed their friend's wedding.
Prasad Kulkarni, Shubham Manmode, Suhas Tamhane, Rahul Pakhare and Shyamal Khairnar had reached Pune Airport for their 9.30 pm Pune-Nagpur flight, hoping to be with their colleague and close friend Akshay Zadpe for his wedding on Thursday morning. Instead, they spent over four hours in a jam-packed terminal before the airline cancelled the flight close to midnight.
"We had never seen such chaos," said Kulkarni. "The whole airport felt like a crowded fair. There were aggressive flyers, long queues, and zero information. Everyone was angry and helpless."
Manmode said passengers were left confused even at the check-in counters. "Despite all the rescheduling chaos, the queues just didn't move. Not a single staff member gave us any clarity," he said.
For the group, the emotional blow was missing their friend's big day. "Akshay kept calling throughout the night, asking whether we would make it," said Suhas Tamhane. "He was desperately waiting for us. We couldn't be there on one of the most important days of his life."
Almost 20 to 25 flights finally followed their schedule among the 200+ flights the airline operates to and from Mumbai, according to mid-day sources.
Indigo Airlines disruption leaves piles of unattended luggage at Mumbai Airport
