2 flight cancellations force them to travel by bus in winter, father and son win Rs 20,000

The Chandigarh District Consumer Commission has directed an airline to pay Rs 20,000 to passengers whose connecting flight from Delhi to Chandigarh was cancelled, leaving them to complete their journey by bus during winter. Observing that an airline’s duty does not end with informing passengers of a cancellation, the commission noted that the family, including a minor, faced prolonged waiting, physical exhaustion and mental stress.

The bench of president Pawanjit Singh and member B M Sharma observed that the father and son were subjected to a lengthy wait, inadequate assistance and uncertainty, and had to make their own arrangements to complete the journey.

“The complainants, particularly complainant No.2, being a minor aged about 17 years at the relevant time, were subjected to physical discomfort and mental distress during the prolonged and disrupted journey. Loss of valuable time, prolonged waiting, uncertainty regarding the onward journey, repeated changes in travel arrangements and being compelled to undertake road travel during the winter season constitute circumstances warranting reasonable compensation,” the September 14 order said.

The order added, “It stands established that the complainants had undertaken the journey with a confirmed return itinerary and, during the course of their return journey, were subjected to successive disruption of their travel arrangements.”

2 cancellations, 1 long ordeal

The father and his minor son purchased confirmed round-trip air tickets from Chandigarh to Hyderabad and back for travel from December 29-30, 2025 by an airline for Rs 28,500. The return flight from Hyderabad to Chandigarh was delayed, and its route was changed towards Delhi, and the flight was ultimately cancelled, compelling the complainants to arrange guest house accommodation in Hyderabad at their own expense.

Later, they were placed on a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi, where they had a nearly five-hour layover at Delhi airport, but eventually their connecting flight to Chandigarh was also cancelled. The airline then refused to provide alternative connectivity from Delhi to Chandigarh, compelling them to travel to Chandigarh by bus during severe winter conditions, besides incurring expenses towards guest house accommodation, taxis, bus fare, food and other incidental expenses.

The complainant submitted that the events caused physical hardship, loss of time, harassment, mental agony and financial loss and constitute deficiency in service, negligence, unfair trade practice and breach of contractual obligations on the part of the airline. Despite repeated requests and follow-ups, the airline failed to provide adequate refund or compensation, they said.

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The complainants, before approaching this commission, had also issued a legal notice dated January 1 to the airline. Despite service of notice, the airline did not appear before the commission and were proceeded against ex parte.

Commission flags inadequate arrangements

The commission noted that the cancellation of the flight was due to a poor weather forecast in Delhi and in such circumstances, the cancellation of a flight, by itself, can’t be treated as deficiency in service. However, the complainants’ unchallenged evidence shows that the alternative arrangements did not adequately address the hardship caused to them, it found.

Keeping in view the totality of the circumstances, including the confirmed booking, disruption of the return journey, change of route, prolonged waiting, cancellation of the connecting flight, inconvenience caused to the complainants and the fact that one of the complainants was a minor, the commission held that it would be just and reasonable to award Rs 20,000 as compensation to the complainants towards mental agony, harassment, physical inconvenience and loss of valuable time, including litigation expenses.

Takeaway

The order highlights that the duty of a service provider, particularly an airline, does not end merely with informing the passenger of a cancellation. Appropriate alternate arrangements should be made to adequately mitigate the hardship caused to the customers.

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For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states and union territories (Chandigarh: 0172-270-0183) or call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 for assistance.

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