File image of a list of IndiGo Flights cancelled at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport.
Credit: DH Photo
Patna: We, me and my wife, were waiting anxiously for December 3, the day when we had to go to meet our only son who stays in Kerala while pursuing his PhD in Management at IIM, Kozhikode.
We had our tickets booked in Indigo for the evening flight which leaves Patna at 6.35 pm and reaches Hyderabad at 8.40 pm. From Hyderabad, we had our connecting Indigo flight, which was supposed to leave at 10.35 pm and reach Kozhikode at 12.10 am at midnight.
Super-excited to meet our son for the first time ever since he joined his doctoral programme, also called DPM (Doctoral Programme in Management), we reached Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport at Patna at 5 pm.
Few hours before we left for the airport, we received a message from Indigo: “Thank you for completing your web check in for flight 6E 6127 from Pat to Hyd. We can’t wait to welcome you on board.”
“We too can’t wait....” I told my wife, who was packing home-made ladoos for her son.
Before we could board the taxi for the airport, we received a message from Indigo: “We sincerely regret to inform you that your flight with PNR Y7UIMZ is delayed due to operational reasons...”
The delayed flight was eventually cancelled and, after standing in multiple queues, our tickets were changed for Dec 4th via Chennai.
But then, December 4th was a similar story. Received a message from Indigo: Thank you for completing your web check-in for flight 6E 679 from PAT to MAA. We can’t wait to welcome you on board.”
The flight was scheduled to take off at 11.20 pm and reach Chennai at 1.20 am. The flight, however, kept delaying till we eventually boarded it at 2.20 am. We thanked our stars when we got seated. The delay led us to reach Chennai (Terminal 1) at 4.50 am while our connecting flight from Chennai to Kozhikode was at 5.50 from Terminal 4.
We had to literally run to get our security clearance and board the flight.
All through the night, we remained awake. Waiting at the airport till late in the night to boarding in the wee hours, we prayed we reach our destination somehow without any hindrance any more.
The pleasure of meeting our only child had vanished in the air after we read that more than 400 Indigo flights had been cancelled and thousands of passengers stranded for no fault of theirs.
Our worst fear came true when on December 7th, a day before our return, we received a message we never wanted to receive: “Dear flyer, we sincerely regret to inform you that your flight 6E 6451 from BLR to PAT on 08 Dec is cancelled due to operational reasons.”
They suggested an option and changed our ticket for the next day. That’s okay. But an extension of a day’s stay means one day more expenses in accommodation and food. But then who cares at a time when passengers have been crying, shouting, yelling and buying astronomically-expensive tickets after paying through their nose.
Next day, we received a similar message saying “we sincerely regret to inform you that your Indigo flight 6E 539 from MAA to PAT on 09 Dec had to be cancelled due to operational reasons.”
This time, they gave no option to change our plan and assured us that a refund for the return journey would be processed in the next five days.
Eventually, we changed the flight. Booked an Air India Express ticket (through Bengaluru) after paying a huge premium.
The only solace was we were back home after multiple cancellations, infinite anxieties and untold stress and hardships.