- A foreign woman climbed atop an IndiGo counter at Mumbai Airport over flight cancellations
- Thousands of passengers stranded across India due to IndiGo's operational crisis over days
- New Flight Duty Time Limitations caused IndiGo to misjudge pilot requirements and rest periods
In a dramatic outrage over the IndiGo crisis, an angry foreigner was seen climbing atop an airline counter at Mumbai Airport yesterday, demanding an answer for her flight cancellation that has left her, as well as thousands of other passengers across the country, stranded over the past few days.
Captured live during NDTV's coverage, the unnamed woman was seen losing her cool at the IndiGo's ground staff before she grabbed the counter's window and sprang onto the counter barefoot.
With all her belongings packed in her luggage, she has no extra clothes to wear, she alleged, as she tried to gather support from other affected passengers. The woman also demanded food, angered over being stranded without the basic amenities. The ground staff at the counter was seen trying to pacify the angry woman and urging her to get down from the counter.
Behind her was a long queue, less visibly agitated but equally frustrated over the future of their travel. A passenger told NDTV that eight members of his family are now stranded with no idea about what they must do next.
"We are eight people bound for Raipur. Our flight was suddenly cancelled. We are tense. We were told at the gate that our flight had been cancelled. Nothing else has been communicated to us. Where will the eight of us go now?" he said.
Similar scenes of frustration played out at airports across the country.
In Ahmedabad, a woman broke down after her delayed flight robbed her and her team of an opportunity to participate in a hackathon event in Guwahati. "Our hard work of seven months is now wasted. We are returning home. Such opportunities are rare," a member of her team told news agency ANI.
Over a hundred flights have been cancelled at the Delhi and Mumbai airports since this morning as the crisis entered Day 5.
The operational crisis is due to a shortage of pilots and flight crew in view of the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules that mandated longer rest periods for the staff. IndiGo has admitted to misjudging the number of pilots it needed under new FDTL rules.
The government has now put the FDTL order in abeyance, expecting that normalcy would return within three days. It has also ordered a high-level inquiry into the crisis.
