SpiceJet flight delays: Passengers clash with staff at Delhi airport; video goes viral

Passengers at Delhi airport were involved in a heated confrontation with SpiceJet staff, with one employee appearing to tell travellers they had chosen the airline because its fares were cheap.

A video of the exchange, shared on social media, shows passengers shouting at staff and chanting “Shame on SpiceJet”.

The video, shared on X, shows several passengers arguing with airline staff at a counter as Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel stand nearby.

During the exchange, a staff member appears to tell passengers they had chosen SpiceJet because it offered cheap fares. The remark appears to provoke an angry response from those gathered at the counter.

A woman passenger is also heard commenting on the staff members’ salaries, saying they must earn between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000 a month.

As the argument continues, some passengers chant “Shame on SpiceJet”, while security personnel attempt to manage the gathering.

The video does not establish what triggered the confrontation or what led to the exchange. The incident has since drawn attention on social media, particularly over the staff member’s remark about the airline’s fares.

SpiceJet had not issued a public response to the Delhi airport confrontation at the time of writing.

SpiceJet passengers report delays at Kolkata airport

The Delhi confrontation follows another reported altercation between passengers and SpiceJet staff at Kolkata airport, according to a report by The Hindu.

On October 22, an X user, Abhishek, shared a video purportedly showing passengers expressing frustration over a delayed flight from Kolkata to Bengaluru.

In his post, he alleged that the flight, scheduled to depart at 8.15am, had not taken off because SpiceJet had not paid for fuel and did not have staff available to scan boarding passes.

“No accountability at all,” he wrote, tagging the airline and India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The allegations in the post have not been independently verified.

Bengaluru flights delayed by several hours

SpiceJet flights departing from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport were also delayed on October 21 and 22, leaving passengers waiting for hours beyond their scheduled departure times.

Three domestic services linking Bengaluru with Kolkata and Mumbai were affected, with delays extending into the early hours of the following day.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, flight SG-158, scheduled to depart Bengaluru for Kolkata at 6.30pm on October 21, took off at 10.37pm, more than four hours late.

Another Kolkata-bound service, SG-647, was scheduled to depart at 7.35pm on October 21 but took off at 1.45am on October 22. It landed in Kolkata at 3.55am, more than five hours after its scheduled arrival time of 10.25pm the previous day.

Mumbai-bound flight SG-633, scheduled to depart Bengaluru at 11.40pm on October 22, took off at 5.09am on October 23.

The delays left passengers waiting at the airport for several hours.

The Hindu contacted SpiceJet for comment on the reasons for the disruptions and the measures taken to assist affected passengers. The airline had not responded at the time of publication. No public response addressing these specific delays had been identified in the available reporting.

SpiceJet faces heightened government scrutiny

The passenger complaints come as SpiceJet faces continued financial and operational pressures.

In September, India’s aviation ministry placed the airline under heightened operational and financial scrutiny amid prolonged cash-flow pressures, rising costs and disruptions linked to the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the government was closely monitoring the airline through the aviation regulator to ensure its financial difficulties did not affect flight operations or passenger safety, Reuters reported.

Naidu said the government had limited scope to intervene in privately run companies but stressed that regulators would continue to monitor SpiceJet’s operations and finances.

Financial pressures add to challenges

SpiceJet has received Rs150 crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, which was extended to support the airline.

Reuters reported in June that the carrier had sought government funding after delaying salary payments to some pilots earlier in the year.

Once one of India’s largest domestic carriers, SpiceJet has struggled with declining market share, high aviation fuel costs and intense competition. Disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict have added to its challenges.

The latest incidents have renewed attention on passenger complaints about delays and interactions with airline staff. However, the precise causes of the Delhi confrontation and the reported flight disruptions have not been established in the available accounts.