SpiceJet flights face operational disruptions at Delhi airport

New Delhi, Sep 19
Several SpiceJet flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here were delayed or cancelled on Saturday over operational disruptions, affecting scores of passengers.

The airport authorities advised passengers to contact the concerned airline for latest flight updates or seek assistance from our on-ground teams.

"We regret the inconvenience faced by passengers due to the operational disruption of some SpiceJet flights. Delhi Airport teams are actively coordinating with the airline and relevant stakeholders to support affected passengers and provide necessary assistance," Delhi airport said in an advisory posted on X.

The disruption followed another incident on September 15 when about 200 SpiceJet passengers protested at the Delhi airport after flights to Dubai were repeatedly rescheduled and delayed. The airline had said alternate flights were being arranged after an aircraft was grounded.

SpiceJet has been grappling with financial and operational problems that have left a large part of its fleet grounded.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) in July imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on SpiceJet Limited for adopting deceptive design practices, commonly known as "dark patterns", on its flight booking platform by automatically enrolling consumers into its loyalty programme and obtaining consent for promotional communications through pre-selected options.

The order was passed after the authority found that the airline's online booking platform used interface designs that impaired consumer choice and violated provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

The authority also found that users were deemed to have consented to receive promotional messages because the relevant option was selected by default without requiring any affirmative action from consumers.

Recently this month, several flight operations were disrupted due to weather and technical errors. On Sunday, an Air India aircraft (AI431) was diverted to Lucknow due to unfavourable weather and visibility conditions.