Indigo flight arrives on time; creates confusion, DGCA seeks report

An Indigo flight from Delhi landed in Bengaluru on time on Friday evening leading to a massive internal investigation and de-Whatsapping of the pilots as per sources contacted by Humor Unplugged. 

Flight 6E-03L landed at 8:10 PM as scheduled at KIAL causing a minor riot within the cabin as excited passengers tried to deplane while the flight was still taxing to its allocated slot. One of them, an aspiring politician Tughlasvi Shunya, even tried to open the emergency doors and throw out his cabin baggage well before the plane came to a stop. He was restrained using hot corrosive Indigo coffee and locked up in an abandoned loo at the rear of the aircraft. 

Later on, he denied opening the door and claimed that the door was opened by a breeze coming in from the AC vent. He also claimed that he voluntarily went to the loo to avoid any discomfort to fellow passengers. Many media outlets congratulated Tughlasvi for this act.

Drohini Swamy from TV Cruiz 18 specifically asked the government to give Tughlasvi a soft copy of the Padma Free award for his selfless act. 

Post landing, in addition to an unprepared ground crew, the flight also ran into some fresh trouble as the airline didn't have any slots available for parking. The ATC asked the jet to keep on taxiing till a slot opens up. When the Indigo top brass was informed about the early arrival of the flight, a senior executive is said to have collapsed on his PlayStation while another had to be taken for fresh air as no one believed that any flight of Indigo could ever arrive on time. 

As soon as the confusion on the ground was cleared and all passengers and crew deplaned, the pilots were asked to report to a small dhaba near the airport which doubles up as the operations command center for KIAL operations for the low-cost airline. The pilots were then made to wait as the Indigo operations team waited for a table to get free. Finally, they decided to meet below a Peepul tree near the dhaba and the pilots were asked to explain why they landed on time. 

"This is counter to our philosophy of delaying flights. What will our cheap passengers think? They will think we are a full-service airline and start having more expectations like free oxygen masks during decompression emergencies. You are setting the wrong precedent. At a time when we are trying to charge passengers for receiving a greeting from the air hostesses, you guys are taking our culture in another direction and this is unacceptable," a senior operations manager is said to have told the pilots. 

The pilots claimed that they were forced to take off early by IGI ATC and the usual stalling tactics didn't help. The pilots were asked to wash their hands at an unused well situated at a distance once the group was done with dinner at the dhaba. The executives discussed the next steps while the pilots trekked their way to the well. 

Once they returned, the pilots were asked to submit a Whatsapp apology on the airline's WhatsApp group. They were also barred from seeing or sending Good Morning messages to the group for a period of 14 days. Their food coupons and dessert privileges have been revoked and for the next two weeks, they will have to eat the same food that is served to passengers.  

Indigo also reported the incident to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) a copy was also sent to the Directorate General for Barbaric Aviation (DGBA) which is the national regulator for low-cost aviation in the country.

Earlier.both DGBA and DGCA had asked for a 480 page report from the airline.