Flight Fiasco: Partial resumption, full-scale chaos

Srinagar, Dec 7: After several days of incessant flight cancellations, operations of the low-cost carrier IndiGo witnessed a semblance of normalcy as both the Srinagar and Jammu airports saw as many as 16 flights of this airline operate on Sunday.

Director, Srinagar International Airport, Javed Anjum, said of the 10 scheduled IndiGo flights at the Srinagar Airport, eight flights operated while two flights were cancelled.

“We have received intimation that some flights of IndiGo for Monday have been cancelled. At this point in time, we can say that things are gradually returning to normal,” Anjum said.

Of the total 11 IndiGo flights scheduled at the Jammu Airport, eight flights operated, although with some delays, said Director, Jammu Airport, Devender Yadav.

“After two days of back-to-back cancellations, the flights of IndiGo have, by and large, started operating. There have been some delays, but we are hopeful that completely normal flight operations will be seen in the next two to three days,” Yadav said.

Even though partial flight resumption was witnessed at both Srinagar and Jammu airports on Sunday, several passengers told Greater Kashmir that they had already received communication from IndiGo about the cancellation of their flights on Monday.

“I was supposed to travel to Bengaluru with my family tomorrow, but we have already received a cancellation message from IndiGo, which says the flight has been cancelled due to operational disruptions. We have been given the option of rescheduling the flight, but I would now prefer to plan my journey only once this fiasco gets over,” said a traveller, Abdul Aziz.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by IndiGo, the airline said, “Following the recent operational disruptions, IndiGo confirms that we are establishing further significant and sustained improvements across our network. The first step towards this was taken on Saturday. On Sunday, the next steps have been taken with fewer cancellations and a higher On-Time Performance. Also, cancellations were made at an earlier stage, allowing us to inform our customers more timely.”

Quoting an IndiGo spokesperson, the statement said, “Our teams are working relentlessly to stabilise operations, and our primary focus remains on providing an enhanced travel experience for our customers. We are making significant progress in restoring our flight schedules and strengthening our customer support systems.”

Earlier in the day, IndiGo said, “Today, December 7, we are on track to operate over 1650 flights, up from 1500 on Saturday. On-time performance is 75 percent, up from 30 percent on December 6. Refund and luggage processes are in full action, both for direct bookings and indirect bookings.”