As widespread IndiGo flight cancellations continue to affect passengers across the country, a woman traveling with her late father’s ashes remained stranded at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on Friday — fearing she might miss the final rites scheduled in Haridwar.
Namita, who was headed to Delhi and then Dehradun for her father’s asthi visarjan, said her flight was canceled without any notice, leaving her devastated and unsure of how to reach on time.
“I have to reach Delhi and then fly to Dehradun. Asthi visarjan has to be done tomorrow,” she told ANI, visibly emotional.
She said airline staff suggested she book seats on another carrier, but the fares were about the same ₹60,000 per person, far beyond what her family could afford at the moment. With no alternative arrangements offered, Namita said the delay had completely derailed their plans.
“All our money has gone to waste. It will take a week to process the partial refund and they don’t know how much they will take yet,” she added.
Pleading for urgent help, she asked the authorities to intervene and ensure that she reaches Haridwar in time for the religious ritual.
Major flight chaos continues on the IndiGo network
IndiGo has canceled all departures from Delhi’s IGI airport till Friday midnight due to operational disruptions. Similar chaos took place in Chennai where all departures were suspended till 6 pm. Several airports across the country saw long queues and stranded passengers as more than 1,000 flights were canceled and many more delayed since Tuesday.
What’s behind the mess?
The airline’s ongoing crisis has been largely attributed to complications surrounding the second phase of Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) standards, which were introduced on November 1 – limiting pilots’ flight hours and requiring schedule adjustments.
After reviewing the situation, the DGCA said IndiGo has requested temporary operational deviations for the A320 flights till February 10, 2026 to mitigate disruptions while maintaining safety standards. The regulator added that the airline had assured that stable operations would be resumed by February 2026.
However, given that IndiGo operates one of the busiest and busiest networks in the country – especially late night and early morning routes – the impact was severe.
