A few weeks ago, I was at the Patna Airport when the Prime Minister and several Chief Ministers arrived in the city for the Bihar CM’s oath-taking ceremony. The entire airport went into VVIP lockdown. Flights were delayed, diverted, and rescheduled. What should have been a routine journey turned into a 12-hour struggle from Patna to Delhi.
Our IndiGo flight was already many hours late. And once we finally boarded, the baggage operations were still being streamlined. In such moments, even a small disruption becomes a chain reaction. Yet, inside the aircraft, a man stood up and started shouting at a young air hostess. She looked shaken. Her colleague tried to calm him, but he continued as if the girls themselves were responsible for the delay.
That moment stayed with me. Because the man was not yelling at IndiGo; he was targeting two helpless employees who had zero control over the situation. Fast-forward to the first week of December. Over 3,000 IndiGo flights were cancelled in just three days, and hundreds more were delayed indefinitely. Airports turned chaotic.
Passengers were stranded for hours. My own aviation-news comment on Instagram, calling out the lack of information and crisis management, went viral, crossing 300+ likes, with users saying, “You raised the real issue.” But there is another real issue we must talk about.
When an airline’s management fails, it is always the ground staff and cabin crew who absorb the public’s anger. Behind the counters, young boys and girls were facing crowds of frustrated passengers demanding answers they simply did not have the authority to give. Some were shouted at. Some were threatened. Some were insulted. And yet, they stood there, trying to help with the little power they had.
IndiGo’s mismanagement is real. But so is the unfairness passengers direct at people who are not responsible for the mess. Ground staff cannot reverse a cancelled flight. They cannot magically produce rested pilots. They cannot override safety rules. They cannot violate DGCA norms. They cannot change company decisions taken in corporate boardrooms. They are simply the face of the airline, not the force behind its failures.
The real failures lie at the top. IndiGo depended on a single aircraft family, the Airbus A320 series. When technical checks were required, the system collapsed. For years, the airline pushed its pilots and cabin crew into overwork, stretching rosters to the limit. When the new rest-time rules were implemented, the airline was caught unprepared. But it is the innocent staff who faced the anger of thousands.
Aviation is a chain where every link must remain strong. When the leadership link breaks, the frontline link suffers the blow. That is exactly what happened. Passengers must understand this: Your anger is justified. Your frustration is real. Your losses matter. But shouting at powerless staff is both wrong and counterproductive.
If there is a problem, write to the airline’s senior management. Tag the DGCA on social media. Tag the Civil Aviation Ministry. Spread the truth online through calm, factual posts. Demand accountability from those who actually had the power to prevent the crisis. Shouting at ground staff achieves nothing. Blaming cabin crew achieves nothing. They are there for our help and safety, not to absorb our rage.
In moments like these, we must also reflect on our own behavior as passengers. A crisis reveals the character of institutions, but it also reveals the character of individuals. The way we treat powerless staff says more about us than about the airline.
Meanwhile, the IndiGo collapse gives India bigger lessons. Overdependence on a single aircraft type is dangerous. Over-stretching human resources is dangerous. Assuming monopoly power will protect you is dangerous.
The government must encourage competition, not consolidation. When a single airline fails, the entire country should not come to a standstill. IndiGo failed India miserably. But passengers must not fail the ground staff miserably. Let’s strengthen systems, not shatter them.
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