- 5 hours ago
The top focus of this episode of 5 Live is on the massive IndiGo flight cancellations that have caused chaos and left passengers stranded at airports across the nation.
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00:00delays distress and disaster indigo
00:10fails to fly flyers left in the lurch
00:14biggest breakdown for India's biggest
00:19airline indigo drags feet while
00:25passengers suffer flyers fume
00:30their apologies won't fly
00:35the indigo fiasco top focus on five
00:39light if you were planning to take an
00:45indigo flight today or perhaps are one of
00:48those unlucky ones who did manage to
00:50take one you've had quite a day and many
00:53people like those who chose to fly with
00:56indigo today are currently at the
00:59airports fighting with officials trying
01:02to understand what happens to refund some
01:05even gasping for luggage well that's the
01:08reality of 60 percent of flyers in the
01:11country why because that's the share
01:13that indigo has hello and welcome i'm
01:17sonal merothra kapoor and before i give
01:19you my location just try and guess where i
01:20am when you see visuals like these
01:23around you when you see people standing
01:26waiting what do you think it generally
01:30means it means you're either at a railway
01:32station or a bus stop but guess what this
01:35is the delhi airport this is terminal one
01:38of the delhi airport maximum of the indigo
01:42flights from delhi operate from here and
01:45what i have been witnessing here for the
01:47past several hours that i've been here it
01:51seems like a never-ending queue of people
01:54who just don't know what to do the
01:58baffling part is in stories like these
02:00it's not just numbers it's the despair
02:03that is getting lost i have with me a
02:05champion who's won medals and is waiting
02:08to go back home i have with me a student
02:11who has an exam wants to serve the banking
02:15sector in the country but cannot go back
02:17home i've met with mothers today with
02:20toddlers you know with them don't know
02:22what to feed them where to go what to do
02:24and so many more stories like that why has
02:28this happened the big question really
02:30because indigo said it cannot handle its
02:33roster and the government wants them to
02:36give the resting period for their pilots
02:39expanded from 36 hours to 48 hours which
02:43indigo says cannot be done which by the
02:46way is the international norm as well what
02:49is happening in this case is indigo trying
02:51to arm twist the government into taking a
02:54decision all this and more is what we
02:57cover on the program today i'll be joined
02:59with all my colleagues from several other
03:01metros of course the metros are the worst
03:04hit where maximum traffic is taking place
03:07and indigo like i said operate 60 to 65
03:10percent of flights in the country
03:12domestically all of them have been hit
03:14many people here have been here for over
03:1724 hours if not more so stories reasons
03:21and the outcome we'll take you through all
03:24of that first up some updates coming in
03:34all right we are now hearing that a high
03:36level inquiry has been ordered by the
03:38ministry of civil aviation into the indigo
03:40disruptions the government of india has
03:42now decided to institute a high level
03:45inquiry into the disruption the inquiry will
03:48examine what went wrong at indigo determine
03:52accountability whatever required for
03:55appropriate actions and also recommend
03:57measures to prevent similar disruptions in
04:00the future it goes on to say it's going to
04:03ensure that passengers do not face such
04:06hardships again good level there good
04:10update coming in that a high level inquiry
04:13has been ordered but what happens to people
04:17now passengers who are stranded now who's
04:21going to address their cause that's the big
04:23question joining me now is my colleague
04:25nagarjun with the latest update nagarjun what
04:27do you have for us in fact it's the
04:33situation same across india sonal it's
04:35not just bangalore or delhi every small
04:37airport every tier 2 tier 3 city where
04:39indigo flies to has seen he's seeing the
04:41same situation in fact in bangalore behind
04:43me you can see the rush for the ticket
04:46counter here asking for refund asking for
04:48luggage update asking for also flight status
04:51update it's not just people from local city
04:53of bangalore but also international
04:55passengers who have connecting flights who have
04:57no clue where to go as well let me take you
04:59to one of the boarding gates where it's at
05:02this point of time they've completely
05:04banned indigo passengers to enter the
05:06terminal you can see no one's being
05:08allowed with indigo boarding pass that's
05:10because the airport authorities feel that
05:13passengers when they enter near the
05:15terminal and go to the boarding gate
05:17they're creating ruckus because of the
05:19constant delays so now this stoppage at the
05:22terminal entry itself so all the passengers
05:24have now moved to the roads right in front of the
05:27terminal one of bangalore airport the situation
05:29seems to be recovering over the next 24 hours
05:32because of the because of the aviation authorities
05:35given some leeway to the airline operators at this point of time but total chaos here at bangalore airport also people don't have water people don't have food few people are stranded let me talk to few people and get their voices so now these are all senior citizens you can see who have seated here
05:51once a gentleman is here sir
05:53i left delhi on the third for a flight i got a flight
06:00on the fourth night today seven o'clock there's no message i'm still waiting for some information
06:05what's what are your options now no option i'm looking for an alternate
06:08fare nothing less than 40 000 you are flying out of another
06:12airline but it's costing you 40 000 from bangalore to delhi from bangalore to delhi
06:16or i go back to a hotel spend money on a hotel take a taxi coming and going which nobody is going
06:21to repay so uh let me also take more few more uh passengers voice sir what is your status of the
06:28flights as of now from yesterday i'm here
06:30i'm here still waiting you are waiting outside their terminal itself since last last yesterday
06:37yes no update no information till date
06:42no no my luggage is with me but some more person have their luggage is inside
06:50many such examples sonal it's not just one or two almost hundreds of them remember
06:56uh indigo has the second largest hub in bengaluru airport so the situation is much more worse than
07:02compared to a hyderabad or a chennai in bengaluru here sonal
07:16all right nagarjun over there bringing us the very latest on what's happening in bengaluru over there
07:22but let me give you a glimpse of what's happening here in the national capital at t1 you see all
07:27these people waiting i've been speaking to all of them it's been hours for in fact a couple of them
07:32days as well that they've just been hanging around here not knowing what to do next we also met with a
07:38couple of people who said that indigo and that's the baffling part indigo is still booking tickets if
07:44you go on their website they still allow you to book tickets when they have come out to say very
07:50categorically there will be no flights taking off from the delhi airport today till tonight no flights
07:57are taking care of taking taking off today but they continue to take bookings online why is that
08:02happening also where i am is very critical position remember this is where everybody is if you have an
08:10indigo flight which has been cancelled the cis of security will not let you go inside the gate
08:16exactly what nagarjun was also telling you is happening at bangalore because you know the
08:21situation is pretty horrid inside we've all seen those social media posts but we did manage to go
08:26inside we did manage to go inside this ticketing counter just a little while ago to see the chaos inside
08:35there are endless lines of people just waiting to understand what to do is there going to be a
08:42cancellation is there going to be a refund can i please know when i can go back home a mom saying
08:49that my kids are waiting for me back home and i just cannot tell them when i will be back take a look
08:56at what happened inside before of course cis have asked us to move from there
09:02we were earlier showing you pictures from outside the airport now let's try and walk inside to see what's
09:09happening over here now this is the booking counter inside t1 and just look at the mess over here
09:17i'm dreading to even speak to people because i know there'll be horror stories after one after the other
09:23that will come our way like wading through this is like being at a railway station if not anything more
09:30you guys have been here for long yeah it has been like two and a half hours we have been waiting here
09:37no line has been moving boycott indigo that man just said that that's how angry people are yeah ma'am
09:44still now you can search on your phone still now like people are getting
09:51tickets fair just now i have met with the guy who is saying that just before two hours i have done the
09:57ticket and then also i am being facing this problem but it is so bhai pata chal gaya
10:01thai ki koi flight sham tak ni jai aishana phone ke us may kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya
10:06comment kecil key people don't wants subscribe to coming to me gonna tell full request
10:18so that people just go kya kya Lord kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya kya
10:22foreign
10:52let me just show you what's happening let me just show you what's happening on the other side if you
11:12if you go up a little bit you will see that this is a never-ending crowd and here people are this
11:21is a charging station I see people stocked up here when are you here I am I am going to
11:38foreign
11:52foreign
12:06foreign
12:26foreign
12:56more than one lakh rupees one lakh forty thousand two likes they are just using this as an
13:00opportunity to make everything they can let's try and walk in let's try and get in a little bit more
13:05to give you a glimpse of what's happening i can't believe i i have to say this i can't believe the
13:10visuals right now this does not look like an airport this is an endless endless long line
13:20that is going where i really do not know everywhere let's just pan from right all the
13:27way to the left just look at the amount of people who are here stuck here for several hours people
13:33who are going for emergencies sometimes for joy but no clarity yet on what is going to happen
13:41can i understand from you where are you going what's happening over here yeah i was actually
13:46heading to bangalore from delhi to bangalore and today i haven't got a single message like
13:52the flight has been cancelled any whatsapp message or normal message i just got in
13:56here and then i saw on the board that my flight has been cancelled so there is no proper information
14:02about the cancellation why it has been cancelled and what are the like options they are providing
14:07we are just waiting waiting for the solution they will like reschedule our flight or give the full refund
14:13or what so very chaotic situation yeah let me just give you a glimpse of the board over here
14:19if you see indigo wherever there is indigo the flight has been cancelled the few flights that are actually
14:25taking off are are air india a casa also in certain cases that i see that are taking off delayed but
14:31taking off but otherwise you see the whole list over there cancelled cancelled cancelled cancelled and what
14:38the other passengers are telling us is that when they because of the indigo cancellation which
14:43remember is 65 percent of the flights that operate here in india the others have also jacked up
14:51their prices let me try and get in let me try and get in and i'll request my camera person to also sort
14:57of keep walking with me to give you a glimpse of what's happening all right here we are at the indigo
15:03reservation ticket counter we walked all the way from there and we have arrived here uh could you tell
15:09us how long you've been waiting here indeed please please speak in the city there's a car
15:13a car and there's a car and there's a car and online which a good buddy need it here
15:18what will happen when the cup cup can't happen to me some new power now that we message are
15:23right now which we put a initial power again come on local flight to cancel why cup series schedule
15:28or how to get the amount of money,
15:30there will be no conversation,
15:32nothing will happen.
15:38Let me try and go
15:40a little ahead
15:42to try and understand.
15:46Ma'am where are you from?
15:48How long have you been standing here?
15:50From three hours we are here.
15:52We are from Bangalore and
15:54still awaiting one response to know
15:56what is the action and what is the plan.
15:58Reschedule it. I don't mind waiting for the
16:00entire night here. But at least confirm
16:02that it is done. I have left
16:04kids and I have come for the conference here.
16:06I can't be here for another five days
16:08for the rates to go down.
16:1055,000 for Bangalore? Crazy or what?
16:12I can go to US.
16:14There is no one who is
16:16responding here. I see people
16:18there. What are they saying? I see some Indigo
16:20staff. All are standing. All are just standing.
16:22Nobody is getting any
16:24response. Take some action.
16:26Reschedule. Refund?
16:28I don't know what will happen to a refund.
16:30There are so many methods of
16:32payments we would have done.
16:34What kind of refund are we expecting at the end
16:36of the day? I don't
16:38understand because they have no answer now.
16:40We don't want
16:42refund. We want to reschedule.
16:44We don't mind staying here.
16:46Because refund
16:48what will happen.
16:50And I'm not getting any other funds.
16:52And I'm seeing young kids here.
16:54It's really breaking my heart to see two-year-olds,
16:56one-year-olds stuck in a situation like this.
16:58It's a nightmare for any mother.
17:00Senior citizens.
17:02And so many, you know,
17:04who could not afford have tried
17:06to make it because they have to reach faster
17:08to their place. What you can see
17:10for labors of all types of
17:12classes. So it's a mess
17:14for everyone. You can't do this
17:16with the public, right? We have our
17:18rights to ask for it.
17:20Alright, I've reached the end of the line
17:22over here. I just want to peep in
17:24and see what's happening inside that reservation
17:26counter. Let's go inside
17:28that and see what's happening.
17:30I do see some Indigo
17:32staff over there.
17:34Let me try and understand
17:36what exactly is the situation.
17:38Have you managed to speak with those?
17:40Yeah, I think so my girlfriend
17:42should explain better.
17:44Have you managed to speak to the people inside?
17:46No, I didn't manage to speak to them.
17:48Yeah, but they are not listening.
17:50What do you mean they're not listening?
17:52We've been waiting for like 3 hours, 3 hours and a half.
17:54We didn't get any information
17:56that the flight was cancelled.
17:58That's amazing. Super far. We came from Paris.
18:00We actually need an answer
18:02for like reschedule or...
18:04What do you mean they're not answering? They must be addressing the question.
18:06But they don't have any answer to answer
18:08us, right? We need an answer.
18:10Reschedule, refund. We need an answer.
18:12That's what we are expecting right now.
18:14But they're not being able to give you anything?
18:16No, no, no, no.
18:18Alright, let's try and walk
18:20back a little bit and let's show you
18:22what's happening on the other
18:24side as well. This remember again
18:26is the Indigo reservation
18:28counter. There is security over here
18:30trying to manage the crowds. People
18:32look defeated. People look tired.
18:34People look just
18:36done. As somebody said,
18:38just done with Indigo.
18:40This man over here has,
18:42in middle of all this kiosk, gone to sleep.
18:44Just goes ahead
18:46to show you the level of fatigue
18:48that has set in. Sir, tell me, where are you going?
18:50How long have you been here?
18:52No, I'm coming from Hong Kong.
18:54So I have to transmit.
18:56They issued the boarding pass, everything.
18:58After I can come and see, the flight is cancelled.
19:00See the crowd.
19:02What is the solution?
19:04Only two or three percent sitting.
19:06The people are standing. Thousand people.
19:08How they answer to the three percent?
19:10What is doing the government?
19:12The Air Force Ministry is available or not?
19:14We should know.
19:16If you are asking me,
19:18ask to anything.
19:20People are asking the anti-government.
19:22What is called in India?
19:24Sir, we have now been asked to leave.
19:26Sir, we have now been asked to leave.
19:28So we will walk out gradually.
19:30But while we go,
19:32let's keep giving you shots
19:34of what's happening over here.
19:36We have now been asked to leave.
19:38So we will walk out gradually.
19:40But while we go, let's keep giving you shots
19:42of what's happening over here.
19:44There are young kids.
19:46There are kids over here.
19:48There are people who are standing in line.
19:50There is a small vending machine
19:52where there's some cola, etc.
19:54if you want to take for the rest.
19:56But if you see the glimpse inside
19:58the airport as well,
20:00the crowd inside the airport as well is quite bad.
20:02You see all those people.
20:04When 60 percent of the flights
20:06of the country are not operating,
20:08clearly what we are seeing outside
20:10is just the tip of the iceberg.
20:14Let's try and walk back now
20:16because we have been asked to leave.
20:18The security CISF is here
20:20and they are asking us to leave the area.
20:22We will abide by the rules.
20:24We will go out.
20:26But we will also keep bringing you
20:28the latest that is coming in.
20:30Just the tip of the iceberg.
20:32I dread to think what's going to be happening
20:34inside the airport.
20:36whose luggage has either been checked in
20:38and they don't know where to go,
20:40how to proceed.
20:42This is the big,
20:46the massive aviation mess,
20:48the massive indigo mess.
20:52All right.
20:56So we just told you the massive indigo mess
21:02that's unfolding right here in front of us
21:04across the country.
21:06But just minutes ago,
21:07we've got a statement from indigo.
21:09Let's put that breaking on our screens as well.
21:11It goes on to say to each one of our customers,
21:14we are truly sorry and we will take care.
21:17We do deeply apologize and understand
21:19how difficult the past few days have been
21:21for many of you.
21:22While this will not get resolved overnight,
21:25we assure you that we will do everything
21:28in our capacity to help you in the meantime
21:30and bring our operations back to normal
21:33at the earliest.
21:34Now they are, you know, clearly saying
21:36that this will not be resolved overnight.
21:38That means this will keep trickling in
21:40for the coming days as well.
21:41Importantly, the statement goes on to say
21:43that we wish to share that we will ensure
21:46all refunds and this is for everybody over here
21:50and for people watching as well.
21:52Indigo in its statement now saying that we will
21:54ensure that all refunds for your cancellations
21:57will be processed automatically
21:59through your original mode of payment.
22:02They also say that we will offer full waiver
22:05on all cancellations, rescheduled requests
22:08of your bookings for travel between 5th of December
22:11to 15th of December.
22:13Now what does this tell you?
22:15This tells you that they are expecting this crisis
22:17to go on at least till 15th of December.
22:20That's the big breaking news at this hour.
22:22Indigo in its statement admitting
22:24that they will be looking at full waiver
22:27of cancellations, rescheduling
22:30that will take place between 5th of December
22:32to 15th of December.
22:34Also saying thousands of hotel rooms across city
22:37surface transport have been arranged.
22:39They also say that we will try and provide food and snacks
22:42to customers at the airport.
22:45I have some here with me.
22:46I just got a statement from Indigo
22:49which says that they will be doing a full cancellation
22:51refund automatically to your source of payment.
22:53They also say that they will try and provide support
22:57in terms of getting you food
22:59and getting you some accommodation.
23:01Has any of that happened?
23:03When I went to the counter to get that rescheduled,
23:06they told us there will be no accommodation provided
23:08and they are not responsible for any of it.
23:10They told you that?
23:11The Indigo staff said that?
23:12When I rescheduled my flight, my flight was today
23:15and it is rescheduled to Monday
23:17and they are not sure if that rescheduled flight
23:19is going to fly on Monday or not.
23:21Until then they have not specifically told us about the food
23:24but the accommodation, when I asked, they told us
23:26we are not responsible and we have to stay on our own.
23:28We have to bear the charges and again Monday
23:30we have to get back to the flight.
23:32And we are not sure if we are going to fly back home
23:35at least that time or not.
23:36Gosh, how long have you been here?
23:38I have been here since morning.
23:39I came here at 10 a.m.
23:41And till now, just half an hour ago,
23:43I got my flight rescheduled
23:44and I am just hoping I just want to go back home
23:46at least on Monday
23:47because I have my exams going on.
23:49I need to be there as well.
23:51I see lots of lovely medals around you.
23:54What championship was this?
23:55I had come for a Karate National Championship
23:57to represent my Karnataka state here
23:59and I won gold to silver and bronze medal.
24:02But unfortunately, I am not able to go back home
24:05and show my medals to my parents, my family members
24:07and my coaches.
24:08So I just want to go back home fast
24:10and I want to celebrate this moment with them.
24:13What a day for you.
24:14So many medals but no way to celebrate
24:16because you are stuck here.
24:17Yeah, we really feel for you
24:19and we really hope that people out there
24:20who are listening are sort of bringing in
24:22some sort of a sharing in some sort of joy
24:24that you are
24:25and we really hope you are able to go back home soon.
24:27I also have with me another student.
24:29You also had an exam.
24:30Tell us.
24:31I have an exam tomorrow of banking, RIP clerk.
24:35So I am staying here only.
24:37So in Bangalore, I have an exam tomorrow
24:39and this has happened now.
24:42So now how will you appear for the examination?
24:44Don't know.
24:45No option at all.
24:46You are going to end up missing it now?
24:47Yeah.
24:48That's all.
24:49That's all.
24:50And Indigo here says in a statement
24:52I saw all of you guys standing in queues to try and get
24:54it says there will be a refund.
24:56Does this statement give you any confidence
24:58into how the airline is working?
25:00I think they will give or not.
25:04This will not matter for me.
25:06Now, now a time it only matters to keep.
25:10I will not give my exam.
25:12Ah, too late.
25:14It's already, the damage has already been done.
25:16We have some reporters joining us as well.
25:18We've got Anirban Roy joining us from Kolkata.
25:22We've got Devesh joining us from Mumbai.
25:24Anagar from Chennai.
25:25Aseem from Chandigarh.
25:27And Nagarjun from Bangalore.
25:29Let me quickly cut across to Anirban as well
25:32and try and get an update on what's happening in Kolkata.
25:34Anirban, you heard the Indigo statement.
25:37Has that reached the passengers at all?
25:40Is there some sense of respite?
25:42And importantly, those who are stuck there,
25:44knowing that this chaos will continue
25:46till the 15th of December.
25:48What's their reaction?
25:53Well, see, there is a mixed reaction
25:55and right now what anxiety and anger
25:58is cooking up in the Kolkata Airport,
26:01Kolkata International Airport.
26:02We have joined by a few of the passengers.
26:05Those flights were cancelled.
26:08Sir, where are you from?
26:09And since how long you are waiting here?
26:13Yeah, we are from Hyderabad.
26:15But we are coming from the trip of Vietnam.
26:18Yeah, since morning, 11 o'clock, we are waiting here.
26:21The flight is cancelled.
26:23They are not told the status of the flight
26:26in the beginning itself.
26:28They said it is delayed, delayed.
26:29Then they said it got cancelled.
26:31Nobody is responsible.
26:33So there is a statement from Indigo as well
26:35that they will provide the whole refund
26:38of the ticket as well as the food
26:40and the hotels itself.
26:42So does they provided you already?
26:45No, they only promised to refund
26:47the actual amount paid towards the ticket.
26:49They did not provide any hotel accommodation.
26:53They have provided only the small snacks.
26:56I was told that with the compensation of our airport minister,
27:01Mr. Ramutana Adu.
27:02They have given that.
27:03Have you asked for the accommodation or anything else?
27:05Yes, they have asked.
27:06Nobody is responsible.
27:08No, everybody is responsible.
27:09They are not answering anything at all.
27:11They are not cooperating.
27:13They said that...
27:14Communication is clear?
27:15No, no.
27:16What communication is clear?
27:17No communication is clear.
27:18No communication is clear.
27:19They never told us that the flights are cancelled.
27:22They never, never, never told us that this is the situation.
27:26And after only coming to Calcutta airport from Vietnam,
27:31in the morning from 11 o'clock we are waiting to see what is going to happen.
27:37Whether we are going to get any flight or whether they are going to provide us with any other flights,
27:44tomorrow, accommodation, anything.
27:46Well, so there is, there are a lot of families like these,
27:49those who are going for check-up in Hyderabad as well as in Bangalore itself.
27:53But right now, the ticket price is much higher and they are suffering from this.
27:58I will ask a few of them, where are you from and is the flight is delayed or got cancelled?
28:05No, the flight actually cancelled.
28:07And we are going to deploy.
28:09So for what purpose is already the Indigo has provided one advisory,
28:16one statement where they said that they will provide food,
28:18they will provide hotels, they will provide vehicles as well.
28:22They have not provided anything until they are provided.
28:24They have not provided anything.
28:25And they are not systematic.
28:27So you can see Sonal here, also the ruckus is there, the cows is there.
28:34It is not like an airport.
28:36It is looking like a bus stand or a railway station with a chaotic situation.
28:40Over to you Sonal.
28:42Thank you very much.
28:43Thank you very much.
28:44Thank you very much.
28:45Thank you very much.
28:46Thank you very much for that.
28:47That was Kolkata.
28:48And I can tell you without even, you know, getting a glimpse at other airports,
28:52at all airports across the country, major metro centers at least,
28:55where most traffic flies in.
28:57And that, especially those airports which have a heavy Indigo flow,
29:01they are looking like bus stop stations.
29:03They are looking like railway station.
29:05There is absolute chaos everywhere around me and around all our colleagues as well.
29:09But talking about them, let's also cut across to Mumbai now.
29:11My colleague Divish Singh joins us from there.
29:13Divish, you know, Mumbai is known to have exceptional functionality.
29:18Mumbai is known to operate airports in a way which is just par excellence,
29:23better than any other metro in the country.
29:25How have they managed to come past or perhaps salvage this Indigo massive mess?
29:31Well, you can see behind me, this is the crowd that has gathered at the Indigo ticketing counter.
29:42This is the Indigo reservation and ticketing counter outside.
29:46Like this is outside the terminal, not inside the terminal.
29:49But there's a huge crowd over here.
29:51There's a large number of people who have been gathered,
29:53who are stranded over here.
29:55Just a while ago, there was a foreign national who,
29:58a woman who was stranded since last evening at the Mumbai airport
30:04and she climbed on the counter and she tried to address her issues
30:09so that someone could help her out.
30:12She was here on a medical visa, on a medical visit.
30:15She was undergoing treatment.
30:16She had a connecting flight but she's been stranded outside the airport since last evening.
30:21Let's try and speak to some of the passengers.
30:23Ma'am, where are you headed?
30:25I was going to say that somebody was complaining that they've not given us any water.
30:30We've been waiting here for over three hours.
30:32Only to be told, just try and get a refund.
30:36They could have just announced it instead of having to wait here.
30:39Where are you headed ma'am?
30:40So, we've come from Kenya yesterday.
30:43We landed.
30:44So, we were going to Jaipur.
30:45They've cancelled our flights but there was no email issued.
30:48There was no phone call.
30:50No prior information.
30:51Nothing, nothing, nothing.
30:52Until we got to the airport and they said cancelled.
30:55So, somebody said, come to the help desk.
30:57We came.
30:58So, we've been waiting here literally.
30:59And all she said is, please just organize.
31:00We could have just asked somebody else to do it.
31:02You know, like announce it.
31:03And it would have been so much easier instead of the chaos that they've caused.
31:07So, you can see, you can see there's no communication from the airline.
31:10There's no information from the airline to the passengers who are stranded over here.
31:15Who are headed to some place, some other place from the Mumbai airport.
31:20Or they have a connecting flight from Mumbai towards some other place.
31:27But people have been stranded here for more than 24 hours.
31:30There are passengers.
31:31There are foreign passengers.
31:32There are domestic passengers who are stranded for more than 24 hours.
31:36They have not been provided food.
31:38They've not been provided accommodation.
31:40They've not been provided with any kind of information.
31:43I just spoke to a foreign passenger who says that her baggage is on some other flight.
31:49She's not yet received the baggage.
31:51And she has some very important medicines which she has to use, which has been prescribed to her.
31:57But she cannot get hold of those medicines because her baggage is stuck on some other Indigo flight.
32:02So, this is the kind of chaos that you see at the Mumbai airport right now.
32:07Till afternoon, till 12 noon today.
32:10From Mumbai, around 104 Indigo flights had been cancelled.
32:14And the numbers have increased.
32:17Like it's been more than 6 hours after that.
32:19The number keeps on increasing.
32:21And the crowd here, you see, these are all passengers, Indigo passengers,
32:26who are waiting for some response from the airline.
32:28Over to you.
32:32All right.
32:33Thanks for that, Divyesh.
32:35So, nothing better in Mumbai either from what I'm hearing over there.
32:39It's as usual the mess that we see across the country.
32:43Now, what's really interesting at this point is that Indigo has given out a statement.
32:48But somehow at the airport, when you talk to passengers, none of them have a clue about it.
32:53So, there is a massive lag.
32:55They could have just sent out a message to all passengers telling them,
32:58A, that the flights are cancelled.
33:00B, that the refund will happen and we'll take care of it.
33:02You know, you can go back home.
33:04But there is massive lack of communication which is leading to this entire mess.
33:09That's the crux of the matter here.
33:11But let's take it forward now with other colleagues of mine who are joining us.
33:15Anika joins us from Chennai.
33:18Anika, go ahead and I don't know if things are any better there because here in Delhi,
33:23I have spoken to some people who have been at the airport for over 24 hours.
33:28What's the situation there like?
33:30Well, in fact, passengers are continuously turning up in the hopes of flying to their places.
33:39In fact, even though there has been an official communication from the Chennai airports,
33:44people are unaware of that and therefore they are continuously turning up in large numbers.
33:49In fact, you can also see the visuals on our screen,
33:52how there's massive crowding over here in front of the Indigo ticketing counter.
33:56Many of them are demanding for immediate refunds.
33:59Many of them are also asking for accommodations to be provided immediately.
34:03They are questioning the Indigo officers as to why prior intimation was not given to them.
34:09Why did they have to come all the way to the airport and then be informed about the flight getting cancelled?
34:15You can see the queue over here.
34:17You know, it's been stationed here since morning.
34:19They haven't moved.
34:20They have been here since morning waiting for their flights to take off.
34:24In fact, it was only now just five minutes back when these boats were also updated.
34:28Up until now, people were there under the false hopes of this misleading boat that says that the flight is still under security check.
34:36It's only now after multiple highlights that the Chennai airports authority have woken up
34:41and then they've updated the flight schedule to being cancelled.
34:45This is the kind of delay that we are seeing here.
34:47In fact, as I speak to you, passengers are still turning up in the hopes of flying home.
34:53In fact, the reality is that all domestic planes, that is Indigo planes in Chennai airport today stands cancelled till midnight.
35:03You know, stories here don't fade away.
35:15I'm joined by another gentleman here who has a very peculiar story.
35:18You have also come here.
35:20What happened?
35:21We have arrived at the first time.
35:22We have four and four days.
35:23We have finally called it.
35:24It's about 24 days.
35:25We've fallen here in 5.00 o'clock.
35:26At that time, we have a four-hour time.
35:27We have come here in the morning.
35:28We have come here as an hour today.
35:29We have given you 5.00 o'clock.
35:30You have come here in the morning.
35:31After that.
35:32Every time we are talking about seven-foot trips later.
35:34And then we're calling out again.
35:36There are no more than four.
35:40So we have come next.
35:41We are taking friends.
35:42Next time, we're doing our two days.
35:44You see what I'm saying there?
36:13It is, it's one thing to not be able to handle the flight mess, what they're saying.
36:19And we'll get down to those details in a bit as well.
36:21It's another to just not communicate with the flyers.
36:24Not tell them that, you know, we're just not telling them that the flight has been cancelled.
36:29You're not telling them if a refund will take place.
36:31You're not telling them what will happen or where should they go.
36:34And that's where the entire chaos is taking place.
36:36I'm told we have some more updates coming in at this point.
36:40Some more breaking news there.
36:42This time, this is from the Airlines Pilots Association that has now slammed the DGCA for granting Indigo safety exemptions.
36:52Now, what is the background to this story?
36:54Let me just quickly recap that for you.
36:57Now, what happened was the country, the nation, the aviation ministry has been telling Indigo that you have to give pilots rest.
37:05Between flights, it has to be at least 48 hours, not 36, as is currently the case.
37:11Now, there were several exemptions, extensions, in fact, given to Indigo for quite a while.
37:16The next exemption or sort of extension ended now in December.
37:21But Indigo said we are still not ready.
37:23And depending, after seeing the flight cancellation and the chaos that went up all day today, they went ahead.
37:31The government was forced.
37:32And many are now saying, I'm twisted into taking a call and giving that exemption all over again.
37:39Indigo has again been given the extension to ensure that their pilots do not get that 48 hours of rest, which is, by the way, the global standard.
37:47So, what is the pilot association saying now?
37:50They are saying they strongly criticize the DGCA for granting what it calls a selective and unsafe dispensation to Indigo under the revised flight duty time limitations.
38:02In a letter that was dated 5th of December, we wrote that story right here in India Today,
38:07that the ALPA warns that the exemption dilutes the fatigue protection norms and jeopardize the passenger safety.
38:16So, while it's not happy with it, Indigo facing its worst crisis ever.
38:21And here, a ministry which has now been twisted into giving it another extension.
38:28But talking about who it impacts the most, well, it's the passenger.
38:31It's people like you and me who are stranded and who don't know what to do next.
38:34I'm joined by one of them.
38:35Anati Bajpai, he's a young entrepreneur, I'm told, stuck in Kolkata.
38:41Okay, we'll, alright, we'll try and get that line with you in just a minute.
38:46But let me also cut across to my colleague, Nagarjun, who joins us from Bengaluru.
38:51Nagarjun, you just heard both those breaking news, right?
38:54One, Indigo saying that all refunds will be done.
38:57I'm just surprised to see that Indigo, which is, or any other airline which communicates through SMSs and WhatsApp,
39:03why aren't they saying this to people straight away?
39:05And why are they still taking bookings online?
39:08Also, why have they not been able to tell people beforehand about the cancellation?
39:16All right, let me take that question, let me take that question to Aseem Bassi, my colleague joining us from Chandigarh.
39:31Aseem, help me understand a little bit how things are in Chandigarh at the moment.
39:36Indigo has issued a statement.
39:38The Pilots Association are not happy with the extension.
39:41But importantly, at the airport, have those confirmations from Indigo reached the passengers?
39:53Well, as Indigo flights are impacted all over the nation, the scenes in Chandigarh are similar with passengers facing all harassment.
40:00I'm close to the Chandigarh airport's Indigo ticketing counter, right in the terminal,
40:05and you can see that how the people are feeling helpless and harassed because a lot of flights that depart from here are cancelled since morning,
40:14since early morning to late night.
40:16There have been a lot of cancellations, bringing a lot of pain to the passengers.
40:21We'll talk to a few passengers who wanted to travel today.
40:24And, sir, can I have your name, sir?
40:26What's your name?
40:29Sir?
40:30Sir, we'll talk to a few passengers here.
40:32Sir, what's your name?
40:33Tikum Vashnao.
40:34Tikum Ji, where did you go to the flight cancel?
40:36What happened to you?
40:37I was going to go to the airport.
40:38Flight canceled, no text message, nothing.
40:41So, Indigo has a statement.
40:42They've said that they will give passengers a hotel, food and refund.
40:47How do you see this?
40:48Are you getting a lot of money?
40:49I don't know.
40:49I don't think it's getting a lot of money.
40:51There's no refund.
40:52I don't know.
40:52I don't know.
40:52I don't know.
40:52I don't know.
40:52I don't know.
40:53I don't know.
40:53I don't know.
40:54I don't know.
40:55I don't know.
40:56I don't know.
40:57I don't know.
40:58It's very bad.
40:59Let's see.
41:00What's happening?
41:00There's no number.
41:01There's no management.
41:02You can see.
41:02Where was the flight?
41:03Bangalore flight canceled.
41:06Yes.
41:06How many times did you go to the flight?
41:08The flight was 6.50.
41:08No message.
41:09No message.
41:10No message.
41:11No message.
41:12Nothing.
41:13Nothing.
41:14Not at all.
41:15No.
41:16No.
41:17No.
41:18At least they should have texted first.
41:20that the flight is canceled.
41:23People are coming from far away.
41:24I traveled 60 kilometers to reach here.
41:26My flight is in Bangalore.
41:28It's so hard that I can't tell you.
41:31My mother is ill.
41:33My mother is hospitalized.
41:34I have to reach there anyhow.
41:35I don't know how they will arrange, but I have to go right now at this moment.
41:39No.
41:40We talked to more people over here.
41:43Your flight is also canceled?
41:44Yeah.
41:45It is actually canceled and we have not even got any message about it.
41:48Okay.
41:49We came from eight hours from Kasol to here for our flight.
41:52Okay.
41:53Indigo has issued a statement that it will give food, it will give compensation, it will give
41:56refunds also.
41:57No, they have not told anything about that.
41:58Are you getting anything on the ground?
41:59No, they have not told anything.
42:00So you said, you heard that this is how people are reacting over here, that whatever advisories
42:08or whatever statements are being issued, they are on paper, they are yet to come on ground.
42:13People say no intimation before the cancellation of flights and nothing they are getting because
42:18of the cancellation.
42:19They are just getting harassment and they are feeling very, very helpless.
42:22All right, those are the voices over there.
42:33Let me cut across to some more passengers who have walked up to us with their own horror
42:37stories.
42:38Sir, you were telling us that you got a confirmation that your flight is on track at 2 o'clock.
42:43Yeah, yeah.
42:44When you reached here, you realized that it's canceled.
42:47Yes.
42:48At 14.05, I got a message stating that your flight 6C963 from Delhi to Hyderabad is completed.
42:57Web check-in is completed.
42:58We cannot wait for you to rush to the airport for boarding in.
43:04That was the message I got.
43:06And when I have come here, there is a notice board I am seeing there that the flights are
43:11not available.
43:12Not just lack of communication, it's quality communication actually.
43:14Yeah.
43:15Really, it's painful because I have traveled all the way from Yamuna Park to this area.
43:22So it costed me…
43:23What will you do now, sir?
43:24No, I am helpless now.
43:26When I was trying to book the train ticket, I got this message.
43:30I was so happy that I got the flight.
43:33And again, now I lost the money as well as everything.
43:36So now you think train would have been there?
43:37Yeah.
43:38The train is absolutely helpful, but there also I doubt.
43:42Tell me your name.
43:43Tell me how long have you been here.
43:44Yeah.
43:45So my name is Harjot Narang and I was traveling because of my work.
43:50So I had my flight pre-porn for nine hours.
43:54So I discussed with the team.
43:56They said, we'll reschedule your flight and they just rescheduled for 5 PM.
44:01And I had a word at 2 that I'm reaching the airport.
44:05So they said that, yes, the flight is going on.
44:08And when I reached, I suddenly got to know that the flight has been canceled.
44:12And now they are saying that there's no other flight.
44:15And I also tried booking trains and there are no trains available right now.
44:20So even like, I don't know where to go now, I'm going to contact.
44:24You know, even if there was a crisis, I'm trying to understand what was your hope with them?
44:29You had hoped that they had just informed you beforehand?
44:32Yeah, they should have informed at least while I was leaving for the airport.
44:36They should have informed, I should have saved some time and would have chosen another route.
44:43Same story, different people, same story, same despair.
44:47I've spent about more than five hours now at the airport and I can tell you that the chaos is real.
44:55I can also tell you that the anger is real.
44:58And this is just outside.
45:00What we are made to understand is that what's happening inside the airport at the counter.
45:04And you must have seen the social media, you know, videos that have been going viral.
45:08That is much worse.
45:10And the worst part of it all is that it does not end tonight.
45:14In the statement that Indigo has given out, they clearly state that there will be disruptions from 5th to 15th of December.
45:23That's the level of chaos that one must expect in the days to come.
45:27Meanwhile, like I said, I was here earlier and I've spent quite a bit of time.
45:31So take a look at what some of the other peculiar cases have been.
45:35This one guy's story is not leaving me.
45:38He came from London to attend his best friend's wedding in Chennai.
45:43But after his flight from Delhi got cancelled, guess what did he do?
45:47He is now going to Chennai from Delhi via Singapore.
45:52You heard that right.
45:54I have two situations now.
45:59Now I have booked a flight from other airlines.
46:02How much did that cost you?
46:04Approximately 70,000 from Delhi to Pune.
46:07So that's too much.
46:08Because I already have lost 30,000 earlier.
46:11So it's one luck for going from Kajuraho to Pune.
46:14It's too much of money loss, no response.
46:16And we are not sure that we are going to get our luggage now.
46:19So we have only two options.
46:20Either we get on the boat for the other airline and get back to our home without our luggage.
46:26Or we again go to the inside airport and keep searching for our luggage.
46:32So our flight is 8.30pm but we are just coming.
46:35Indigo flight at 8.30pm?
46:36No, no.
46:37I am done with Indigo now.
46:38So I have booked another flight now.
46:40So now four hours we will be searching for our luggage now.
46:43I think this kind of behavior is not acceptable at any level.
46:47I mean forget about here.
46:48I think overall in India I presume this is the situation as of now.
46:53They say many things is because of shortage of employers,
46:59or difference in the labor law,
47:01but we are not getting a full picture.
47:05Flights are there but then there is no pilot to drive the flight, to run the flight.
47:12Indigo flight has not given me any notification from their side.
47:15When I checked the flight status,
47:19I find that it has cancelled.
47:22So we are worried.
47:24And if they have no notification or anything,
47:27or anything,
47:28they have not given anything.
47:30So we are very worried.
47:33Now we are worried.
47:34Indigo flight is going to be in four months.
47:35India has been delayed in four months.
47:36For four months,
47:37Delhi is going to be late for four months.
47:39I am going to be flying for five to six hours,
47:40I am going to be flying for five to six hours.
47:42When I was from Delhi,
47:44I was going to go for five hours.
47:46I was late for the three hours.
47:47And now I was at 7 hours later,
47:48I was at 2 o'clock at night.
47:49It was at 2 o'clock at night.
47:50right so that's the that's the situation and here we are wrapping up our bulletin from
47:58i'm sure it doesn't look like the airport but trust me it is this is what people are doing
48:04they've been camped here for days they've been camped here for hours and they still have no idea
48:09when they will finally manage to go home there is no clarity or communication coming in from indigo
48:16and at this point we don't know when this will end either according to indigo statement they are
48:22claiming that all refunds will be done i would request my camera person to just show this is
48:26just one of the just pan across to actually give you an idea this is just one of those spots where
48:32people have just camped they left their luggage here and they are waiting how long will this wait
48:39be nobody knows and we really hope that a strict action is taken against indigo for
48:46creating this entire mess and for leading 60 percent of flyers in the country in an absolute lurch
48:54thank you so much for watching stay tuned to india today
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