IndiGo passengers have food next to plane on runway after flight delayed for 18 hours, video goes viral

Passengers of a Goa-Delhi IndiGo flight were forced to have food on the runway after the flight was delayed for hours and then diverted at last. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media, with several users saying that the flight in question was delayed for  up to 18 hours on January 14 and later diverted to Mumbai.

In this video, some passengers can be seen having their dinner while others could be seen scrolling through their phones. The Goa-Delhi 6E2195 flight was scheduled to depart at 9:15 am on Sunday but did not take off until the evening, prompting the passengers to have dinner on the tarmac while awaiting a status update on their flight from the airline.

A user shared the video of the incident on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, "Passengers of IndiGo Goa-Delhi who after 12 hours delayed flight got diverted to Mumbai having dinner just next to the IndiGo plane... IndiGo is the new SpiceJet."

The flight eventually landed in Mumbai at 05:12 am on Monday. After criticism on social media, the carrier issued a statement wherein it attributed the delay to "operational reasons" and said these are beyond the airline's control. "We regret this discomfort and assure you that it is never our intent to disrupt the travel plans of our flyers.  However, at times, due to certain operational reasons, such delays are beyond the control of the airline.  We look forward to your kind understanding," the airlines said.

"We are aware of the incident involving IndiGo flight 6E2195 from Goa to Delhi on January 14, 2024.  The flight was diverted to Mumbai due to low visibility conditions in Delhi.  We sincerely apologise to our customers and are currently looking into the incident," it added.

Another video of the incident shows passengers arguing with ground staff over the delay.  Meanwhile, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, where the incident took place, issued a clarification stating that the flight was delayed due to "unfavourable weather conditions".

"As the flight was already significantly delayed in Goa, passengers were irate and rushed out of the aircraft as soon as the step ladder was connected.  The airport operators in coordination with CISF QRT cordoned off the passengers into a safety zone as passengers refused to get into the airline coach and proceed to the Terminal Building.  Passengers were kept under the strict watch of the airline authorities and security until further actions were taken," the statement read.

Sharing the video on X, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took a jibe at the airline for providing its passengers with a "unique location dining experience." "Hope the hapless passengers are not charged additional service charges for unique location dining experience by IndiGo," she said in a post.

This, however, is not the only time IndiGo has received flak over flight delays. An incident involving a passenger Sahil Kataria and an IndiGo pilot captain Anup Kumar grabbed eyeballs after the passenger physically assaulted the pilot during an announcement about a delay in takeoff.
 
The cabin crew and a fellow passenger tried to control Kataria while others blamed the airline for the delay. After this incident, there were calls on social media for Kataria to be declared as an unruly passenger and to be placed on the no-fly list.

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