(MENAFN- Live Mint) IndiGo, one of the country's biggest airlines, continued to grapple with operational issues, leading to the cancellation of over 500 flights today. The massive flight disruptions, now in their fourth day this week, have left passengers annoyed and helpless, with many venting their frustration on social media. Among them is the founder of Fintrekk Capital, Amit Kumar Gupta, who has shared how one of his distant relative's weddings had to be postponed because of the ongoing IndiGo crises.

In a detailed post, Gupta revealed that 48 guests were travelling from Delhi to Goa on the same IndiGo flight, which was repeatedly delayed and eventually cancelled.

With most peak-season bookings in Goa being non-refundable, the family was issued only a credit note valid for the next 24 months, he said.“The wedding has now been shifted to the NCR next month due to the lack of available venues in December,” Gupta added.

Also Read | IndiGo Flights Cancellation LIVE: Airline's on-time performance only 8.5% today

Gupta told Livemint that the relatives' family had booked a 5-star hotel for four nights, from Thursday to Sunday (December 4–7), at approximately ₹35,000 per night. He added that event management fees of ₹15–20 lakh were extra, bringing the estimated total cost to around ₹16.4–21.4 lakh.

Calling the situation“astonishing”, he criticised IndiGo for failing to foresee the disruption and inform passengers in advance. He also expressed frustration with what he described as a“useless inquiry” by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), claiming it would not prevent major losses of time, money, and energy for thousands of affected travellers.

He urged the government to intervene urgently, impose strict penalties on IndiGo's management, and hand over operations to an independent professional team, alleging that the present leadership has“made a total mess of the travel experience”.

He further warned that the airline's operational cuts could affect even those without immediate travel plans, as reduced slots could push fares sharply higher.

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“This will impact everyone in the near term. Even those who don't have a booked flight but are planning to take one in the next few months. Slots will be cut, prices for existing flights will go up. An Indigo return flight I booked on Black Friday for March'26 vacation is now quoting at ~2x after just one week,” he wrote.

Here's how social media users reacted:

The post has amassed a variety of reactions on social media. Here's how people responded:

One user attempted to offer a positive perspective, writing:“What if the flight had crashed! Marriage is only postponed; not cancelled. Consider all things happened for the family's good. IndiGo and others aren't doing well. That doesn't mean you should lose cool and patience. Marriage requires lifelong patience and cool attitude. It's a check on our response, an opportunity to know how we respond to the reactions for no fault of ours. Being patient in times of their crises is a much more mature response.

“I wish the best for the new couple. Things would take off for them really beautiful because they are programmed to be the best. External Disruptions shouldn't distort their thinking or resilience. They are built to last; IndiGo isn't! All the best.”

To this, Gupta replied:“Hope you know that in peak season, everything in Goa is non refundable.”

Another user, Pratik Agarwal, wrote:“I was travelling with my family and got to know that flight is cancelled juz 3 hours before the flight departure time. Nobody is picking up phone and they are not allowing refund also as the link shared by them is not working.”

Also Read | IndiGo Flights Cancellation LIVE: Airline's on-time performance only 8.5% today

Echoing similar sentiments, a user named Ratan Mehta wrote:“My son wedding was on 6th and they cancel flight from Bangalore to Jodhpur on 4th. We paid 20-30k for another flight and many guest not even able to gets tickets. These idiot must be punished for the an artificial problem created by them. They have knowledge of the problem.”

Gupta responded:“Unfortunately in that case rebooking other flights was also extremely risky. The turnaround time was less than 24 hours and the situation is not going to improve in the next 7 days at least.”

Latest on the IndiGo crises

The airline has informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that it expects operations to stabilise by February 10 and has sought temporary relaxation of rules restricting pilots' night-time duty hours. After meeting IndiGo officials, the DGCA said the disruptions stemmed from planning errors and miscalculations made during the rollout of Phase 2 of the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) for crew. IndiGo admitted that its actual requirement for crew was higher than originally planned. On Thursday, the airline issued a“heartfelt apology” to passengers and industry partners, assuring them that it is working urgently to restore normal services across its network.

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