Passengers flying with IndiGo have been plunged into a distressing ordeal at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, with many left stranded for over 24 hours without their checked-in luggage. This crisis unfolded as the airline's operations faced severe disruptions for a third consecutive day on Friday, December 5, 2025.
Mass Cancellations and a Trail of Lost Bags
The scene at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 was one of exhaustion and frustration. The root cause was the cancellation of a staggering 104 IndiGo flights on Friday alone. According to airport sources, this included 53 departure and 51 arrival flights. The cancellations are attributed to a mounting crew shortage, network-wide scheduling strain, and the airline's ongoing adjustments to revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.
For numerous travelers, the flight cancellation was just the beginning of their troubles. The greater agony has been the inability to retrieve their checked-in baggage, with airline staff providing little to no clarity on when they might be reunited with their belongings.
Passenger Narratives of Exhaustion and Poor Service
Senior citizen Nita Lulu's experience highlights the human cost of the disruption. Traveling from Mumbai to Chennai for her daughter's wedding, her flight was cancelled on Thursday, December 4. "I waited till 2 am at the airport because they kept telling me my luggage would come in one hour, but it never did," she recounted. Promised a home delivery the next morning that never materialized, she was forced to return to Terminal 1. She criticized the rude and vague responses from counter staff and expressed dismay over an incomplete refund where a large portion was deducted as 'taxes'.
Uday Mishra, whose flight to Bengaluru was cancelled, echoed the sentiment of poor customer service. "The IndiGo booth personnel are rude and vague, and they are wasting our time," he said. After a night of shifting flight timings culminating in a cancellation, Mishra and others were left waiting for their bags with no information, food, or water. "If you are cancelling flights like this, then just close the operations, but at least return our luggage," he pleaded.
The situation was particularly dire for elderly travelers. Seema Neb, trying to reach Dehradun for a wedding, described a scene where senior citizens were lying on granite floors due to a lack of assistance, seating, or basic amenities. Neb also pointed out the financial double-bind faced by passengers: while their money was stuck with IndiGo, fares on alternative airlines had skyrocketed, making rebooking prohibitively expensive.
International Travelers and Mounting Costs
The crisis also ensnared international passengers. Ajay Bopara and Harpal Sen, arriving from Manchester, England, found their connecting IndiGo flights cancelled after they had already checked in their luggage at Terminal 2. Stranded for over 30 hours, they were shuttled between counters and terminals with no answers. "We are not even demanding refunds or apologies anymore, just give us our luggage so we can go home," Bopara stated, summing up the desperation.
Beyond the immediate inconvenience, passengers are bearing significant additional costs. Many have spent considerable amounts on transport, parking, meals, and accommodation while making multiple trips to the airport to inquire about their bags. The refunds processed by IndiGo have been a further point of contention, with several passengers reporting large, unexplained deductions.
While IndiGo has offered full refunds or free rebooking to affected passengers, and Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu has stated that a complete restoration of services will be achieved within three days, these assurances offer little solace to those trapped in the luggage limbo. For them, the immediate and pressing demand remains simple: a clear, coordinated effort to return their belongings and end an ordeal marked by exhaustion, financial loss, and a glaring lack of accountability from the country's largest carrier.
