Slapgate, tarmac dining... 4 big IndiGo fiascos, and we're only in mid-January
This year perhaps meant a good and fresh start for many, but not for IndiGo Airlines. We are in the middle of January and there have already been numerous complaints and videos about the airline's 'poor' customer service.
Of late, IndiGo has been making headlines for the absolutely wrong reasons. While airlines, at this juncture, are grappling with the issue of flight delays and cancellations due to weather conditions, the problem with IndiGo seems more than just that.
We are just about in the middle of January and there have been numerous viral videos and posts where passengers have been venting their frustration over the airline's customer service.
The most recent incident involved customer frustration peaking, with a flyer hitting the co-pilot after a 13-hour delayed flight.
Guess what, even celebrities like Ranvir Shorey called out the airline in a now-viral X post for a flight delay of over 10 hours.
Besides, numerous other videos have emerged online that showed passengers engaging in a verbal duel with the staff about a flight delay or even about a missing seat on the plane! Yes, that happened.
Here are some of the videos that went viral in January this year. The problems are too many, but the common thread here is the airline.
Flyer slaps IndiGo co-pilot
Sahil Kataria, 28, was going to Goa for his honeymoon. His flight was scheduled for 7.40 am Sunday (January 14) which eventually took off at 6.30 pm that day. He was frustrated when the IndiGo pilot started announcing flight delays. He ‘lost his cool’ and ended up slapping him.
While this is not the kind of behaviour that anyone can really endorse, what flyers also complained about was the frustrating wait due to long delays.
Sahil was later arrested by the police for assaulting the co-pilot. He is currently out on bail.
Sahil was also seen apologising for the assault, while being deboarded.
IndiGo later said in a statement later that an internal committee has been formed to address the incident, and that the passenger could be put on a 'no-fly' list due to "unruly behaviour" as per regulatory guidelines.
Open-air tarmac dining
Hours after a clip of the co-pilot of an IndiGo flight being assaulted by a passenger went viral, another video surfaced on social media where flyers of the low-cost air carrier were seen having dinner on the tarmac after a flight was delayed for hours and later diverted.
Several claimed that a Goa to Delhi IndiGo flight was delayed for nearly 18 hours on January 14 and later diverted to Mumbai.
Frustrated passengers of the - 6E2195 flight - decided to rest and have their dinner on the runway sitting next to the aircraft.
Videos shared on X show some passengers having their meal while others resting on the runway.
After the video created a hullaballoo on social media, the Civil Aviation Ministry issued a show-cause notice to both the airline and Mumbai airport.
The notice held both responsible for the incident and blamed them for not being "proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport".
Worm in sandwich
On a Delhi-Mumbai IndiGo flight on December 29, 2023, a passenger named Kushboo Gupta reported discovering live worms in her sandwich. Gupta brought this to the attention of the cabin crew, urging them to inspect other sandwiches as well.
However, she claimed she was appalled by the crew's nonchalance towards the complaint.
The video of the worm wriggling on the sandwich left Internet users aghast.
Soon after, on January 3, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a showcause notice to IndiGo.
Chaos at Mumbai airport after flyers stuck on aerobridge for hours
Passengers on a Bhubaneswar-bound IndiGo flight from Mumbai were stuck on the aerobridge for hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Monday, January 7, leading to complete chaos.
The passengers alleged that there was no air circulation on the aerobridge.
Visuals of the incident show heated arguments between angry passengers and the airport staff.
The aerobridge door was opened later, and the passengers were able to disembark.
Actor Radhika Apte, who was booked on the same flight, shared her ordeal in a long Instagram post, without naming the city, airport and airline.
Other incidences
These are just incidents that got the attention of social media users. There are numerous other videos where passengers seemed to be unhappy about the private airline’s service.
Arindam Dey, an IndiGo flyer, shared a video on X that shows water dripping from the overhead bin. An air hostess tried to bring things under control but to no avail. The passenger flying on the Delhi to Bengaluru flight said that the crew couldn’t find him an alternative seat, and he was forced to travel in this condition.
In another video, a passenger complained of how his flight was delayed by four hours, with the airline staff refused to give a definitive response to passengers.
IndiGo in the Indian sky
IndiGo is currently India's largest air carrier. It holds 61.8% of the domestic market (as of November 2023).
It operates over 2,000 daily flights across the length and breadth of the country, and abroad; to 119 destinations.
Customers, therefore, aren't quite wrong in expecting better service from an airline that dominates the Indian sky.