No seat available, a passenger stands on IndiGo flight: What’s going on?

It's not uncommon to see more people than seats on trains and buses.

However, in a similar incident, just before takeoff, an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Varanasi was forced to return to the airport on Tuesday morning.

The reason behind this was that the crew noticed an overbooked passenger standing at the rear of the plane.

Let’s take a closer look.

IndiGo flight returns to the airport

The incident occurred at around 7:50 am when IndiGo flight 6E 6543 was taxiing from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMA) in Mumbai.

The crew had alerted the pilot about the male passenger standing near the back end of the IndiGo aircraft.

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One of the passengers, Akhilesh Chaubey, who was heading to Varanasi on a business trip, was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, “The flight returned to the bay and the passenger was offloaded. The airline then checked the cabin baggage of all passengers on board before proceeding with the take-off after a delay of at least an hour.”

Amit Mishra, another passenger, told the newspaper that they landed in Varanasi at around 10.30 am.

“To catch a flight of 7.50 am, one needs to be at the airport by 6.30 am at the latest if one does not have a check-in bag. Such delays due to the airline’s illegal motives need to be taken up by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation," he told HT.

The standby passenger

The Hindustan Times reports that the standby passenger was an IndiGo employee travelling on SLT (staff leisure travel), a benefit that entitles employees to reduced airline tickets.

Under this policy, staff may only travel on a space-available (standby) basis; they may board per seat availability before pushback.

In the latest incident, one confirmed passenger was late and was ultimately classified as a no-show (someone who does not show up for the trip), according to sources close to The Times of India. Thus, the standby passenger got on board the plane.

But the confirmed passenger also showed up and occupied his seat, and the staff had to stand close at the rear end of the plane without a seat.

According to the report, the standby passenger was to travel with a cabin bag and had no checked luggage.

An IndiGo airline representative confirmed the incident and said that the standby passenger was deboarded when the error was discovered before the takeoff, according to News18.

“There was an error during the passenger boarding process of 6E 6543 from Mumbai to Varanasi, wherein a standby passenger was allotted a seat reserved for a confirmed passenger. The error was noticed prior to the departure of the aircraft, and the standby passenger was deboarded. This led to a slight delay in the departure of the aircraft.”

“IndiGo will take all measures to strengthen its operational processes and regrets the inconvenience caused to customers,” the spokesperson added.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked IndiGo to submit a report on the incident, an official close to the matter said.

Overbooking flights

Airlines typically overbook flights to reduce the possibility of flights leaving with empty seats.

The HT report stated that airlines had been penalised by the aviation authority, the DGCA, for refusing to allow passengers to board even with valid tickets.

Regulations announced in 2016 state that an airline is not required to pay passengers if an alternative flight is booked within one hour of the planned departure.

The airline must pay 200 per cent of the scheduled one-way basic fare plus the airline fuel charge, up to a maximum of Rs 10,000, if it plans an alternate trip within 24 hours of the boarding being denied.

According to the Economic Times, in 2022, Air India was fined Rs 10 lakh by the aviation regulatory body for failing to compensate passengers who were denied boarding.

With inputs from agencies