Due to ongoing widespread flight cancellations and chaos at several airports, Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong’s IndiGo flight from Delhi to Jharkhand’s Deoghar was cancelled, upsetting him as he traveled to one of his staff’s weddings.
Unable to physically attend the celebration, Wong decided to join the celebrations virtually. He posted clips online of himself attending a wedding dressed in traditional Indian attire, along with a heartfelt message for the newlyweds.
“Distance may divide us #IndiGoChaos but the Spirit of #shaadi will unite us. Beta, congratulations and may your marriage be happy and blessed,” Wong wrote.
The staff also apologized for not being able to attend the wedding.
“I have joined the tens of thousands of passengers stranded in #Indigo. My flight to #Deoghar has been cancelled. I sincerely apologize to my young staff who are waiting for me to attend his #shaadi. Lost for words,” Wong said via the official Singapore office of the High Commission.
IndiGo Flight Status: Latest Updates
Over the past four days, major cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — have witnessed hundreds of flight cancellations by IndiGo, one of India’s largest airlines. The situation has improved slightly today, but more than 440 flights have still been cancelled.
The airline, which serves about 60 percent of India’s domestic market, apologized and assured that all affected passengers would receive compensation.
The airline said the crisis stemmed from “a number of unforeseen operational issues”, while also pointing to minor technical problems, adjustments to the winter flight schedule and inclement weather.
But according to aviation insiders and regulators, the main reason lies in the introduction of Flight Duty Time Limits (FDTL). These revised working time standards, which aim to ensure flight crews are adequately rested and prevent fatigue, were introduced in January 2024 but have not yet been implemented. The DGCA linked the disruption to a “misjudgment and planning gap” in the implementation of these regulations.
To handle the surge in passengers, the South Central Railway has announced that it will run four special trains. An SCR press release said it is running special services to Chennai, Mumbai and Shalimar (Kolkata) from Hyderabad today.
SpiceJet also announced a significant expansion of its Mumbai departures for the day.
