India's 1983 World Cup-winner stranded at Mumbai airport for '12 hours' amid Indigo crunch: 'Was like fish market'

1983 World Cup winner Madan Lal was stranded in Mumbai amid the ongoing Indigo crisis. He voiced his frustration on social media.

Former India pacer Madan Lal, who was also a part of the World Cup-winning squad in 1983, was left stranded at “Mumbai airport for 12 hours” amid the ongoing Indigo crisis. The airline is facing intense scrutiny and criticism after thousands of passengers in the country were left stranded due to the constant flight disruptions. It is worth mentioning that a full-blown crisis occurred following the implementation of the new pilot rest regulations.

Madan Lal was stranded at Mumbai amid the ongoing Indigo crisis (HT_PRINT)

According to the official regulations, it was made mandatory to give 48 hours of weekly rest, 12 hours more than before. The nighttime landings were also limited to two per week.

Amid the ongoing crisis, Madan Lal took to social media to say the airport was looking like a “fish market”, and he also said that nobody in the country cares for the people.

“My flight was delayed by 12 hours from Mumbai. No body care in our country for the people’s. Air Port was like fish market,” Lal wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh also reacted to the ongoing "inconvenience" for the passengers, saying immediate action is needed to ensure reliable service.

"It’s concerning to see continued flight disruptions by IndiGo Airlines, causing inconvenience to passengers. The situation is worsened by rising fares on Air India, leaving travellers with limited, costly options. Immediate action is needed to ensure reliable service and fair pricing for all," wrote Harbhajan.

Earlier, IndiGo had also acknowledged "misjudgment and planning gaps" while attempting to adjust to the rules. India's biggest airline cancelled over 1,000 flights on Friday, leaving passengers angry at various airports in the country.

On Friday, the airline cancelled flights from some of India's busiest airports, including Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. With this, the airline has cancelled approximately 1,600 flights since Tuesday, when the crisis erupted into public view.

When will the situation get normal?

IndiGo’s chief executive Pieter Elbers expects the situation to return to normal between December 10 and 15. "I do understand that these disruptions have caused much discomfort to our customers and has shaken their belief in IndiGo’s reliability carefully built over past 19 years," he said in a video message.

He also stated that the airline expects cancellations to fall below 1,000 on Saturday. "So we decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards," he said.