400 IndiGo passengers stranded in Istanbul without food or accommodation
What's the story
Around 400 passengers of IndiGo Airlines were stranded at Istanbul airport for nearly 24 hours.
The travelers, who were traveling to New Delhi and Mumbai from Turkey, were severely delayed due to "operational reasons," according to the airline.
Passengers took to social media platforms X and LinkedIn to vent their anger and share details of the ordeal.
Passenger accounts
Passengers recount ordeal, criticize IndiGo's handling
One of the stranded passengers, Anushri Bhansali, said the flight was delayed twice by an hour before it was canceled and rescheduled 12 hours later.
She said IndiGo didn't provide any accommodation or meal vouchers. Further, she claimed no airline representative approached them at the airport during this time.
Another passenger, Rohan Raja, shared his struggles with the cold weather after the 6:40am flight from Delhi was canceled.
Communication breakdown
Chaos ensues due to lack of communication from IndiGo
Parshwa Mehta, who was supposed to fly to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, described a chaotic scene at the Istanbul airport.
He said his flight was first delayed from 8:15pm to 11:00pm and then rescheduled for 10:00am the next day.
There were no announcements made by IndiGo about these changes, and passengers had to rely on information from Turkish Airlines crew members instead, according to Mehta.
Inadequate compensation
IndiGo's compensation offer falls short, passengers demand apology
Mehta also revealed that passengers were promised lounge access at Istanbul airport as compensation for the inconvenience.
However, he pointed out, the lounge was too small to accommodate all stranded passengers. Many were left standing for hours without proper facilities.
Criticizing IndiGo's "blatant failure of basic customer service," Mehta demanded an apology and fair compensation for all affected passengers.
Twitter Post
Flier shares ordeal on X
Hey @IndiGo6E , your handling of flight 6E0018 from Istanbul to Mumbai on Dec 12 has been a disaster. Scheduled to depart at 8:15 PM, it was delayed to 11 PM on the same day. Fine, we waited. Then it was shockingly pushed to 10 AM the next day. What’s going on?
— Parshwa Mehta (@parshwa_1995) December 12, 2024
Poor ranking
IndiGo ranks among world's worst airlines in recent report
The incident comes on the heels of a damning assessment of IndiGo by the AirHelp Score report 2024.
The airline was ranked among the world's worst airlines, placing 103rd out of 109 airlines analyzed.
The same report also ranked Air India at 61st and Air Asia at 94th in the list.