Tech influencer Arun Prabhudesai, the founder of Armoks Media, expressed his outrage on Thursday after being stuck at Pune airport for hours due to repeated IndiGo flight delays. The disruptions have put one of his major events at risk, highlighting the frustration faced by hundreds of passengers across the country.
He said, “SHAME ON YOU @IndiGo6E , One of my biggest events of the year is in danger of getting cancelled because of your absolute incompetence.”
Multiple Delays Leave Passengers in Limbo
Prabhudesai said he arrived at Pune airport at 10 AM, but his flight — originally scheduled for 1:05 PM — was first delayed to 1:25 PM, then 3:30 PM, and finally pushed to 6 PM. “Every time we ask the crew if the flight will actually take off or get cancelled, there is zero clarity. No answers, no accountability,” he tweeted. The influencer warned that the delays were not just inconvenient but could result in financial losses worth lakhs.
He further added, And this isn’t just a delay, because of this mess, my lakhs of investment for this event is at risk of going to waste. Who’s responsible for that? Who’s answerable for the losses? I need answers, Indigo. And so do hundreds of passengers stuck here today.”
IndiGo CEO Admits Operational Challenges
IndiGo has faced significant disruptions in recent days, with more than 300 flights cancelled on Thursday and numerous delays reported. CEO Pieter Elbers acknowledged the difficulties and emphasised the airline’s goal of restoring punctuality.
“We serve close to 380,000 customers a day and want each of them to have a good experience. We could not live up to that promise these past days and we have publicly apologised for that,” he said.
Elbers explained that a combination of minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather, heightened congestion, and newly implemented Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms compounded to create widespread operational issues. On December 3, IndiGo’s on-time performance fell to just 19.7 percent.
“Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels and dimensions. For that a lot of work is being conducted right now. Our immediate goal is to normalise our operations and bring punctuality back on track in the coming days, which is not an easy target,” the CEO said.
