IndiGo’s flight chaos spoils India’s wedding parties

Traditional wedding functions are a big affair in India, but they have become a major casualty of the crisis engulfing India’s biggest airline, IndiGo.

IndiGo’s mass cancellations this week left thousands of passengers stranded, but the disruptions jolted brides and grooms hard — a couple was forced to attend their own wedding reception virtually, many rushed to reschedule and one family opted for a pricier charter flight.

Even the Singapore High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, was trapped in the chaos, posting on X that his flight was cancelled and he was “lost for words” as he could not attend the wedding of a young staff member in the remote town of Deoghar, in eastern India.

PEAK WEDDING SEASON

The cancellations come during the peak wedding season — a USD 130 billion sector in India in which families spend a large chunk of their wealth for extensive, days-long celebrations with a high dose of music, dance and gifts.

IndiGo has apologised to customers, but that may not be soothing enough for many to-be-weds.

After their IndiGo flight was cancelled, one newly-wed couple appeared for their wedding reception on a large screen via video conferencing, and apologised to dozens of guests who had already reached the function’s venue.

The stage where the couple would have sat remained empty.

“We had invited so many relatives, and it was impossible to cancel the event at the last minute ... we decided to have the couple attend the reception online and broadcast their participation on the screen,” the mother of the bride said, according to NDTV news channel.

‘WE BOOKED A CHARTER FLIGHT’

IndiGo has admitted the crisis was a consequence of its failure to prepare in time for strict changes to pilot duty-hour guidelines. The Indian government has said it would investigate the disruptions, which included more than 1,000 flight cancellations just on Friday.

IndiGo commands more than 60 per cent of India’s aviation market.

Amit Kumar Gupta, founder of an equity research firm, told Reuters his cousin’s wedding celebrations, scheduled for this week in Goa were being postponed, possibly to January.

“While the bride and groom had reached the destination, most family members were going to fly together from Delhi but couldn’t,” Gupta said.

The wedding venue in Goa had offered some relief by offering a credit note, but no refunds were given.

Shirshti Magan was excited for her brother’s wedding a day ago, but blamed IndiGo’s flight cancellation for spoiling the family’s celebrations.

“We are numb. A tragedy, made entirely by a single corporation. No natural calamity,” Magan wrote on X.

India’s domestic air passenger traffic rose from 83 million in 2014 to 174 million in 2024, according to IATA. IndiGo has the biggest domestic network in India, covering some of the smallest cities where other airlines typically do not fly.

A disappointed Sairtha KGF sat outside Bengaluru airport and said “we feel like crying” after 80 persons from the groom’s family — and the groom himself — could not reach the eastern town of Puri, where they had booked hotels and made other arrangements.

The wedding is on Saturday.

“Now we have booked a charter flight.”