Amid the chaos of IndiGo flight cancellations and delays, many passengers who managed to reach their destinations found themselves without their luggage.
Calcutta airport sources said the main reason for missing luggage was confusion over which flights would operate and which would be grounded.
“Many flights are cancelled at the last moment after luggage has been loaded, so bags have to be offloaded. Additionally, passengers sometimes cancel their tickets after waiting for hours, and their luggage also needs to be removed,” an airport official explained on Friday.
At the Calcutta airport, officials were flooded with calls from angry IndiGo passengers reporting missing baggage.
A businessman from the city, travelling with his wife to Goa for a wedding, experienced multiple disruptions. He was originally booked on a Thursday morning IndiGo flight to Mumbai, connecting onwards to Goa. When that flight was cancelled, he was rebooked on a Bengaluru flight connecting to Goa. Delays caused him to miss the connection, and they eventually reached Goa on Friday morning. “But his luggage did not arrive, and he has filed a complaint with the airline,” said a friend.
Tussar Roy, 40, flew from Bengaluru to Calcutta with family for a relative’s wedding. Their direct 9.30am Thursday flight was delayed, and they were rerouted via Chennai, landing at 3.30am on Friday. “Since then, we’ve been searching for our luggage,” he said. They checked into a hotel near the airport.
Roy added that the airline had promised delivery to the hotel, but he received nothing. “We have expensive belongings, yet the staff aren’t coordinating. We don’t even know if the luggage is lost,” he said.
Arghya Podder, 26, who works with a software company in Hyderabad, spent more than 12 hours at the Calcutta airport looking for his luggage. His original flight was delayed, rerouted via Patna, and he reached Calcutta at 7pm on Thursday. Though the airline assured him of luggage delivery, he received conflicting messages. “I was told my baggage had arrived, but the IndiGo counter had no information,” he said.
“I have been waiting at the airport since Thursday, but I still haven’t found my luggage,” Podder said.
An IndiGo spokesperson said passengers could lodge complaints through a link posted on the airline’s X handle.