Anxiety, anger, confusion prevails at Chennai airport as IndiGo crisis intensifies
IndiGo flights were cancelled, stranding passengers with urgent needs, including medical emergencies and weddings, causing chaos at Chennai airport.
Chennai Wearing blue athleisure and bangles Divya Kaneja, who married just four days ago in Chennai was one of the loudest voices Indigo ground staff questions since all flights of the airline remain cancelled.
A resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, she was to fly back there on Friday along with her husband and her parents — who are both patients. “My mother has a fractured femur bone and my father’s surgery was planned for December 7 after my wedding,” Kaneja said.
“The airline didn’t even provide water, food, or wheelchair assistance for my aged parents. At our age we can still manage.”
While Kaneja continued fighting with the airline to cover their accommodation until they rescheduled the flights, her husband had taken her parents away in a cab and made fresh hotel bookings. “I’m spending half the money I spent on my wedding now because of this mess. We have to book hotel rooms for all family members who cannot fly back to Varanasi.”
While most people had returned home or were waiting in the Chennai airport to consider other options, it was those who were flying for emergencies from health to weddings who were at the Indigo counter seeking some way out.
Vimal Ashok, a consultant in Mumbai was to fly to Jaipur on Friday to see his five-month pregnant wife. “I work offshore so I haven’t seen her in five months and we were excited to do the 20 week scan together after I landed in Jaipur,” said Ashok. “But she’s so upset now that I can’t make it. It was supposed to be a very special time. I also have to report to work in Mumbai in 3 days. And once I go offshore I can’t be on land for another month.”
Most passengers got to know their flights have been cancelled only on the display boards.
“I don’t think a train or bus will work. I don’t know what to do so I’m going to stand here in the airport to see if there is any flight I can take,” Ashok said.
TSM Akkash, a Sri Lankan left the Colombo airport after a 11-hour delay and was stranded in Chennai unable to attend his older brother’s wedding in Jaipur on Saturday evening.
“Indigo delayed 11 hours in Colombo and they promised me that I’ll be able to take the 8pm flight but now that’s cancelled and they have given me no option,” said Akkash.
“I am willing to pay any amount of money and go to Jaipur because it’s my brother’s wedding but there are no seats in Spicejet and Air India. His brother had flown on Air India, a day earlier.
Neha Srivastava was to travel to Indore to see her 86-year-old father in the hospital. “Only Indigo has a flight to Indore, so what will I do to go see my father?” Neha asked and showed her email from Indigo that the flight remains cancelled and they’d refund but no amount was specified.
“I first got a message that they’re advancing my flight by 15 minutes so I came to the airport early. Then they delayed it and finally cancelled it.”
Anya, a Russian national who is travelling India with her friend Lisa, said, “We both have to fly to Goa. We have been waiting for four hours and they didn’t inform us that they’ve cancelled the flight. They’re not giving us a refund either.”
Lisa added they’ve been looking up buses to Goa to continue their trip since they go back to Serbia after two days.
Another young woman who didn’t wish to be identified missed her US visa interview. Her interview was on December 4 in Chennai but since her flight from Mumbai was delayed, she could land only on December 5 and the embassy didn’t agree to reschedule her interview. She also remained stranded, unable to fly back to Mumbai.
The airline finally provided food — a sandwich around 8pm to the passengers.
“We have been fighting for this for so many hours,” said Lisa. “This chaos is something we have never experienced anywhere in the world.”
The CISF had not allowed any of the passengers inside the gate. “You are a fraud,” a man from Kolkata had been saying loudly to the airline staff behind the glass. “Everyone is angry. People have been banging on the glass. We are trying to calm them but these are people with genuine emergencies and no one knows what to do,” said a police constable R Anandraj.
