On Wednesday, the impact of major air travel was experienced at Ranchi as the flight of six IndiGo Airlines was suddenly cancelled at Birsa Munda Airport, which left hundreds of passengers stuck, causing massive confusion. The cancellations were to impact those flights between Ranchi and three major cities, such as Delhi and Hyderabad, with the airline also preventing fresh bookings on such routes over the next four days.
Airport sources said that passengers were reporting at the terminal as early as the morning, and when they were told that their flights were cancelled on account that some operational difficulties having arisen. Later on in the day, however, things got out of control, and crowds grew around the counters of the airline as people sought transparency, money back and other options. Numerous passengers complained that they had not been notified of this beforehand, even after purchasing the ticket.
The abrupt termination of bookings contributed to the fear. In the online portal and travel booking websites of IndiGo, the next four days showed sold out or unavailable status of the Ranchi-Delhi and Ranchi-Hyderabad flights and another major metro route of the company. Having no ability to rebook or reschedule, the passengers were left scrambling to find alternative methods, which on most occasions cost them quite a lot more as they travelled by other airlines at last-minute rates.
As airport authorities revealed, the key factor that led to the cancellations was also a confluence of crew shortages and technical faults that have been afflicting IndiGo flights in the country over the past few days. The introduction of new flight duty time rules and pilot rest hours has placed more strain on staffing in the airlines, resulting in a high number of disruptions in various airports.
Some of the worst hit included local business travellers, students and medical emergency passengers. Most of them were complaining that the air connectivity to Ranchi has become unreliable lately due to frequent cancellations. According to some of the passengers, they had to spend more than 24 hours in traffic without clear refund terms.
The Airport Authority also employed more personnel to serve queues and help in redressing grievances. The authorities indicated that they are in constant communication with the management of IndiGo to revive normal operations and minimize congestion in the terminal.
In the meantime, trade and tourism organizations in Jharkhand have recommended that the central aviation regulator take action, citing financial losses and interference with inter-state movement. They emphasized that Ranchi is a significant administrative and business city that needs regular and reliable flights.
At this time, IndiGo has not declared a time at which the suspended routes will be reopened to bookings, though airport officials anticipate that things will be partially normalized in the coming days. It has also been encouraged that passengers regularly check the status of their flights before going to the airport.
