SpiceJet flight SG 939, scheduled to fly from Delhi to Pune, was delayed by more than six hours before being cancelled, leaving over 180 passengers stranded at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The flight had been scheduled to depart at 9:15 p.m. on July 27, with boarding originally set for 8:45 p.m., but passengers ended up waiting at the airport until around 3:30 a.m.
A SpiceJet spokesperson said the aircraft was first delayed due to a technical issue and was later cancelled once the fault could not be resolved in time.
Passengers said they were not given clear updates during the wait, particularly between 2 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., and alleged that no proper food or water arrangements were made for those affected.
The prolonged wait led to a tense exchange between stranded travellers and SpiceJet staff at the terminal, with several passengers demanding accountability from the airline.
Passengers called for a high-level probe by the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation into how the airline handled the situation.
SpiceJet said it arranged an additional flight to accommodate all affected passengers and expressed regret over the inconvenience caused by the delay and cancellation.
Under DGCA’s Civil Aviation Requirements, airlines are required to provide passengers with free meals and refreshments once a domestic flight delay crosses a set threshold, and to keep passengers informed with truthful, timely updates on the reason for delay.
SpiceJet is one of India’s major low-cost carriers, operating both domestic and select international routes out of hubs including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Passengers have increasingly taken to social media to report flight delays and cancellations, often tagging the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry directly to seek faster redressal.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is India’s busiest airport, handling a high volume of daily domestic and international departures, which can compound the impact of any single flight’s delay or cancellation.
(Image: Photo by Kprateek88, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0/2.5/2.0/1.0)
