India’s largest airline, IndiGo, encountered widespread trolling on social media after an incident involving a flight from Mumbai to Varanasi. The flight was compelled to return to the bay and offload an additional passenger who had boarded without authorization. According to an airline spokesperson, an error occurred during the boarding process, resulting in a standby passenger being assigned a seat reserved for a ticketed passenger. This oversight was identified prior to departure, and the extra passenger was deboarded. Consequently, the flight’s departure was marginally delayed. IndiGo has pledged to enhance its operational procedures to prevent similar occurrences and regrets the inconvenience caused to its customers.
Overbooking is a common practice in the aviation industry, especially during peak seasons, as airlines anticipate that not all passengers with confirmed bookings will show up. In such instances, standby passengers are allowed to board if ticketed passengers fail to arrive within a specified time frame. In this particular incident, a standby passenger boarded the IndiGo flight after the original passenger did not appear at the check-in counter. However, the ticketed passenger later showed up at the boarding gate, prompting the standby passenger to vacate their seat. However, instead of leaving the aircraft, the standby passenger moved to the galley. The plane was subsequently taxied to the runway without anyone noticing the extra passenger onboard. Once the discrepancy was discovered, the aircraft returned to the bay, and the standby passenger was disembarked. Necessary protocols were then completed before the flight finally departed.
IndiGo’s operational error has sparked a flurry of criticism on social media platforms. The airline has since issued a statement acknowledging the incident and expressing regret for the inconvenience caused to its customers. IndiGo has also assured that steps are being taken to strengthen its operational processes to prevent such errors in the future.
