A passenger had to travel standing after not getting a seat in Mumbai-Varanasi flight

IndiGo Flight News : Even in ST bus or Mumbai local, many people travel standing after all the seats are full. But in Indigo's Mumbai to Varanasi flight, a passenger had to stand inside for some time after not getting a seat. The flight started preparing for take-off and the flight also started running on the runway. At the same time, the crew realized that a passenger was traveling standing and they informed the pilot and the flight was diverted.

IndiGo flight 6E6543 started running on the runway. Seeing a passenger standing, the crew went to ask him to sit on his seat. However, the passenger said that there was no seat for him. This nonsense made the crew realize that something was wrong. The crew informed the pilot that due to overbooking a passenger has been seated even though his seat was not assigned. Eventually the plane was brought back to the bay (parking place). An extra passenger was deboarded and the cabin baggage of all the passengers on board was rechecked and the flight departed after a delay of one hour.

IndiGo airline defended that the disturbance was noticed before take-off and the extra passenger was offloaded. “During the boarding process, a standby passenger was allotted a confirmed passenger seat,” the spokesperson said. The fault was discovered before the plane took off and the standby passenger was removed. There was a slight delay in the departure time of the plane. Indio will take all steps to streamline the entire process and regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers.”

To ensure that not a single seat remains vacant on a flight, airlines often overbook passengers. Regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) penalizes airlines in cases where a passenger with a valid ticket is not allowed to board the aircraft. According to rules announced in 2016, if an alternative flight is arranged for the passenger within an hour of the scheduled departure time, the airline is not obliged to compensate the passenger.

If another flight is arranged within 24 hours, compensation equal to 200 percent of the one-way basic fare and airline fuel charges will have to be paid. An upper limit of Rs 10,000 has been kept for compensation.