How did massive IndiGo flight cancellations force a newlywed couple to join their carefully planned reception through a video call and what does this unusual incident reveal about the wider airline crisis that has disrupted travel across India this week?
Their family carried on with the event, virtually.
Bengaluru: In a rare and emotional turn of events a newlywed couple from Bengaluru had to attend their own wedding reception online after widespread IndiGo flight cancellations disrupted their travel plans. The reception was scheduled at Gujarat Bhavan in Hubballi where friends and family had gathered to celebrate the union of Medha Kshirsagar from Hubballi and Sangama Das from Bhubaneswar. Both work as software engineers in Bengaluru and had carefully planned their travel to reach the venue on time.
The couple married on November twenty three in Bhubaneswar and had arranged a formal reception in the bride’s hometown for December three. However their plans were thrown into disarray as IndiGo began cancelling flights across India due to severe roster problems and shortage of pilots.
Medha and Sangama had booked tickets from Bhubaneswar to Bengaluru with a connecting flight to Hubballi. What began as a minor delay soon turned into a full day of uncertainty. Their Tuesday morning flight scheduled for nine AM faced repeated delays stretching late into the night. By early morning on Wednesday the flight was finally cancelled leaving the couple stranded at the airport.
Adding to the chaos several relatives travelling on the Bhubaneswar Mumbai Hubballi route also encountered cancellations and were unable to reach the event. Despite the setbacks guests were already gathered and the venue was fully prepared leaving the family with little choice but to proceed.
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With no possibility of reaching Hubballi on time the bride’s parents decided to continue with the rituals. They sat in the seats reserved for the bride and groom while the couple joined virtually from Bhubaneswar fully dressed in their wedding attire. Their faces appeared on a large screen at the venue allowing them to participate in the celebrations remotely.
The bride’s mother shared that the family held on to hope until the last minute but eventually decided that cancelling the reception was impossible. The online attendance allowed the ceremony to proceed even though the couple was miles away.
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The incident unfolded amid a massive operational crisis for IndiGo. The airline which operates around two thousand two hundred flights daily cancelled over five hundred flights on a single day marking the highest cancellation count in its twenty year history. Airports in major cities including Delhi Mumbai Bengaluru Hyderabad Chennai Jaipur and Bhopal reported heavy disruptions leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
IndiGo informed aviation authorities that the disruptions were largely due to planning gaps and miscalculations during the implementation of the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations norms. It warned that cancellations would continue until December eight after which the airline plans to reduce services in an effort to stabilise operations.
The airline has also requested temporary flexibility in certain duty regulations until February ten next year to restore its schedule.
As cancellations continued for the fourth consecutive day the Directorate General of Civil Aviation withdrew instructions regarding published weekly rest. This move allows airlines to use leave in place of weekly rest giving them additional room to manage crew schedules and minimise further disruptions.
Despite regulatory intervention travel remains challenging for many passengers across the country as the airline works toward restoring normal operations.
