A Gurgaon-based passenger travelling from Delhi to Bagdogra has called out IndiGo Airlines after he was allegedly denied boarding for being just a minute late, despite standing at the gate while boarding was still ongoing. Amit Mishra shared his unsettling experience in a lengthy LinkedIn post.
Mishra claimed that the incident not only cost him an important business trip but also resulted in financial losses. “IndiGo Airlines – where’s the accountability? I never thought missing a flight by 60 seconds — while the gate was still open — would end up canceling an entire business trip and cost me double for my next leg of travel,” he wrote.
Mishra further claimed that he had checked in his luggage at 6:25 am for a 7:30 am flight. He then arrived at the boarding gate at 7.04 am, 26 minutes before the scheduled departure. However, he was not allowed to board.
“The gate was open, and passengers were ahead and behind me. But after three minutes of my requesting entry, the staff called DGCA personnel and shut the gate right in front of me,” he added.
He further emphasised that the flight was preponed to 7.20 am without any SMS, email, or app notification. Despite the change, he still reached the gate 16 minutes before the new departure time.
According to Mishra, the incident disrupted his entire itinerary. “This cost me my Bagdogra–Hyderabad connection, my Gangtok meeting, and I had to rebook my Delhi–Hyderabad leg at double the cost,” he said, demanding both a refund and compensation.
“There was no attempt to help. No empathy. The process took priority over people,” he wrote.
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He also highlighted another issue with a later flight. His rebooked Delhi–Hyderabad leg was also rescheduled earlier, from 6.45 AM to 6.35 AM. However, boarding for that flight didn’t even begin until 6.07 AM. “Now tell me, how do the rules work? If we’re late by minutes, we’re offloaded. But when delays are from your side, there’s no explanation or accountability,” he questioned.
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IndiGo responded on LinkedIn, initially asking Mishra to share an alternate contact number and a convenient time for a callback, stating, “Sir, we tried reaching out to you on your registered contact number; however, we were unable to establish a connection. Please share an alternate number along with a convenient time via DM so that we can connect with you. ~Team IndiGo.”
“Upon careful review, we would like to share that our team had kept the boarding gate open until the scheduled gate closing time to accommodate all customers. As per our records, unfortunately, you arrived at the gate after it had closed,” the airline added.
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