Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) descended into chaos and frustration as hundreds of passengers were left stranded for days following a massive wave of flight cancellations by IndiGo. The situation reached a boiling point on Friday, with angry crowds chanting slogans against the airline, highlighting a severe breakdown in communication and passenger care.
Three Days of Disruption and Mounting Passenger Anger
The crisis unfolded over three consecutive days, starting December 2. IndiGo cancelled a staggering 391 flights during this period, with a single-day high of 292 cancellations on Friday, December 4. The nationwide operational disruptions created a ripple effect, concentrating stranded and confused travellers at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 of the airport. Passengers reported a complete lack of clarity, with many having no access to food, water, or even basic facilities.
"There is absolutely no information. They've checked in our bags, and now we can't even retrieve them. We're just stuck here," said entrepreneur Rohan Srinivas, who was trying to fly to Delhi. He described a tortuous cycle of delays, where airline staff would announce a new departure time every hour, only to change it again sixty minutes later, making it impossible for people to leave the airport premises.
Human Cost: Missed Exams, Medical Needs, and Unusable Facilities
The human impact of the cancellations was severe and varied. Among those affected were students with critical academic commitments, families travelling for weddings, and elderly passengers forced to sit on the floor for hours on end.
Vidhya Prakash, a 22-year-old, had been at the airport since 5 am trying to get to Hyderabad for a crucial MBA entrance exam scheduled for Saturday. "All they say is to wait. How long can we just wait? If I miss the exam, the college won't hold a re-exam, and I'll have to waste a year," she said desperately.
Basic amenities collapsed under the unexpected surge of people. Karan Bora, a passenger heading to Madhya Pradesh, said, "I haven't had food in seven hours. Every restaurant is out of food." Water kiosks ran dry, and washrooms became filthy and overflowing due to the footfall. "The washrooms are dirty, overflowing. My four-year-old is crying because she is scared to even enter them," said Aparna Kumar, a resident travelling to Kolkata.
Medical emergencies added to the distress. Revathi Narayan, a 67-year-old diabetic traveller waiting since Thursday night, could not access her medicines which were packed in her checked-in luggage. "I need my medicines every four hours," she explained.
Airline Admits to Crowd Management Crisis
Sources within IndiGo acknowledged that crowd management had become the biggest challenge. An official stated that people were flocking to the terminal even after receiving cancellation messages, leading to unbearable congestion. "There's simply no place to move," the official admitted.
Passengers, however, felt abandoned by the airline's ground response. Many complained that IndiGo's help desks remained unmanned for long periods, leaving them to wander "like headless chickens" from counter to counter, as described by Sandeep Naik, a flyer to Jaipur. Others felt trapped in a bureaucratic loop. Mohammed Faizal, a Kochi-bound passenger, told the Times of India, "We can't exit because our bags are inside, and we can't cancel our flights because we won't get a full refund... we need to wait for hours in the airport till IndiGo cancels our flights."
Videos from the terminals circulated widely on social media, showing confrontations between angry passengers and staff, with demands for refunds, accommodation, or at least a proper explanation. While KIA officials stated they were "managing the situation with available resources," the stranded travellers maintained that the response from all sides was far from adequate, leaving them exhausted, hungry, and in limbo.
