IndiGo cancellations: Mumbai Cong chief seeks probe; slams govt for chaos, passenger woes

Mumbai, Dec 5 (PTI) Mumbai Congress president and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad on Friday sought a high-level probe into the large-scale disruption of IndiGo flight operations across the country over the last three days.

Thousands of passengers are stranded without basic facilities due to this, she said during her visit to Mumbai airport, where she interacted with affected passengers.

"Senior citizens, women and children were made to stand in long queues for hours with no information, guidance, drinking water or food. The situation is the failure of the Civil Aviation Ministry. The government did not intervene despite the widespread inconvenience caused to travellers," she said.

She also alleged that some airlines took advantage of the crisis and charged Rs 50,000-60,000 for tickets that normally cost around Rs 5,000.

"How does the government and the airline intend to compensate passengers for the hardship caused? Responsibility must be fixed for this complete operational collapse. Corrective measures must be put in place so that no airline can leave citizens stranded in future," Gaikwad asserted.

Air travel across India remained in chaos for a fourth straight day on Friday as IndiGo, the country's largest airline, scrapped around 500 flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded for several hours at a stretch with little clarity on alternatives.

The crisis was sparked after IndiGo, which controls about two-thirds of India's domestic traffic, failed to plan for new pilot flying-time regulations.

Meanwhile, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday said the airline expects to have less than 1,000 flight cancellations on Saturday and that the situation is anticipated to normalise between December 10-15. PTI MR BNM