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2 passengers deboarded for misbehaving over delay in Thailand-bound IndiGo flight
The late arrival of the incoming aircraft, traffic congestion, and crew exceeding their duty time limitations delayed the departure from Mumbai by nine hours
Two unruly passengers were deboarded and handed over to the security agencies for misbehaving, as the late arrival of the incoming aircraft, traffic congestion, and crew exceeding their duty time limitations delayed the departure of an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Thailand’s Krabi by nine hours on Wednesday.
Videos posted on X purportedly showed passengers abusing and yelling at the cabin crew. A male passenger was seen kicking the cockpit door. Passengers alleged the airline did not keep them updated on the departure time.
They shouted slogans against the airline, allegedly abused the pilot, and demanded that he come out of the cockpit and respond to them. The passengers questioned the airline for not taking responsibility for the delay.
A Mumbai airport official said the flight was initially delayed due to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft. “The incoming aircraft was arriving from... [West Asia], but was delayed. Once it arrived, the operating cockpit crew exhausted its FDTL [flight duty time limitation], leading to further delay,” the official said. He added there was a further delay due to traffic congestion before the flight took off at 1pm, while it was scheduled for departure at 4:05am.
IndiGo said a combination of reasons, including late arrival of incoming aircraft, air traffic congestion, and crew exceeding their FDTL delayed the flight. “Two of the customers on board behaved inappropriately during the wait time and were declared unruly. As per protocol, they were deboarded and handed over to the security agencies, resulting in further delays,” the airline said in a statement.
It added that meals and refreshments were served multiple times to ease the wait time while the airline’s airport team remained available to assist customers. “We remain committed to ensuring a safe and respectful environment for all and regret the inconvenience caused to our customers.”
IndiGo, India’s biggest airline, faced an operational meltdown that stranded tens of thousands of passengers, as low-cost strategies left the airline with insufficient crew when the new FDTL came into force on November 1.
