IndiGo cancelled a Ahmedabad-Delhi flight citing operational reasons, initially offering only refunds despite passenger requests for re-accommodation. After persistence, rebooking was arranged, sparking debate on passenger rights and airline accountability in handling cancellations
Flight delays and cancellations are nothing new for Indian travellers. Most passengers understand that operational issues can happen. Weather, technical problems, or air traffic restrictions are often beyond anyone's control. What usually upsets people is not the cancellation itself, but how airlines handle the situation after that. A recent post on X by user Bigul Chugh highlights exactly this concern. In his post, he shared an experience involving his brother-in-law, who had a flight scheduled on Saturday from Ahmedabad to Delhi. According to the post, the flight was cancelled by IndiGo citing “operational reasons.”
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The user wrote that when his brother-in-law contacted the airline, the response was immediate and fixed. IndiGo offered a full refund and asked him to book another ticket on his own. However, the passenger did not want a refund. He clearly asked for re-accommodation on the next available flight to Delhi instead.
Despite this, the response did not change. Bigul wrote that the airline kept repeating the same line: “Full refund, please book another ticket yourself.” He pointed out that this meant passengers had to deal with higher fares, limited seat availability, and disrupted plans — all due to an airline cancellation.
After continued arguing and pushing back, the situation suddenly changed. As the man mentioned, “After continuous arguing, suddenly it became possible and they booked him on a flight 4 hours later.” This raised an important question for him.
He directly asked IndiGo why customers are not given a choice upfront. In his words, “Why not ask the customer upfront what they want?” He also questioned why refunds are pushed instead of re-accommodation when the cancellation is the airline's fault.
Bigul clearly stated, “Refunds don't fix disrupted schedules. Re-accommodation does (up to some extent at least).” He ended his post by urging the airline to stop passing the inconvenience and extra cost onto passengers and simply “Do better.”
Read the full post below:
As the post gained traction online, IndiGo stepped in with a response. The airline commented, “Hi, we're concerned to hear about this and would like to look into it right away. Could you please share the PNR over DM so we can assist you further? ~Jasmine.”
Here is how the internet reacted to Bigul's post:
A user wrote, “I had the same issue, but, on the App they had a service called Plan B, where I was given option Refund or Ticket to next flight. I chose the ticket, and it was done immediately. I didn't had to contact anyone.”
Another one added, “DGCA should come up with rule of double the fare as refund. Like cancellantion by passenger does not warrant full refund.”
“REFUND should be as per market price for next flight passenger choose , if airline at fault it should be passenger's choice not airline choice to give refund. Basically they chose passenger who bought low price ticket n others who bought at higher don't get refund choice,” read a comment.
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A person asked, “Did you check the fair difference ? Maybe when they realised that they can do the date change themselves and will also earn some because of fair difference! Or did they refund the extra or charged extra?”
The incident has once again sparked a larger conversation around passenger rights and airline accountability, reminding travellers that while delays may be unavoidable, transparent communication and fair options should never be.
