SpiceJet cancelled its Delhi–Pune flight SG-939 after first rescheduling the service, leaving passengers scrambling for costly alternatives and alleging that cancellation information was not communicated clearly. The airline said the flight was cancelled on September 30 due to operational reasons and that passengers had been informed more than 12 hours in advance.
The flight was originally scheduled to leave Delhi at 4.55pm and reach Pune at 7.25pm. Manish Kumar, a passenger who needed to travel urgently, told the Times of India that he received a message saying the departure had been moved to 12.05am. He said he checked the flight status again before leaving for the airport and found that the service had been cancelled.
Kumar said he did not receive a separate cancellation message and faced difficulty contacting SpiceJet’s customer service. According to his account, several calls either failed to connect or ended after 15 to 20 minutes on hold. He eventually booked an Air India flight that departed around 2am, paying a higher last-minute fare. He also said he had not yet found a way to claim a refund for the cancelled SpiceJet ticket.
Another passenger told the newspaper that he and his wife had already reached the airport when they realised there was no clear information about the flight’s status. The tickets had been booked through a travel portal, and the couple bought replacement tickets costing almost Rs 19,000 to reach Pune for an important function.
The passengers’ accounts highlight the operational consequences of flight disruption beyond the cancellation itself. Travellers may need to arrange replacement transport at short notice, while communication gaps can make it difficult to decide whether to continue waiting, seek another service or pursue a refund. The passenger who travelled with his wife said repeated disruptions had made timely communication especially important.
SpiceJet disputed the account that passengers were not informed in time. An airline spokesperson said the Delhi–Pune flight had been cancelled because of operational reasons and that passengers were informed more than 12 hours in advance. The airline said it proactively communicates operational changes through the registered contact details provided during booking.
The airline also said that when tickets are booked through travel agents and the agent’s contact details are registered, disruption-related communication is sent to those details. This creates a practical distinction between an airline sending an alert and the passenger receiving it directly, particularly when bookings are made through third-party travel portals.
The cancellation came amid other disruptions involving SpiceJet services. A Mumbai–Dubai flight was delayed by more than 30 hours on the preceding Saturday, affecting more than 100 passengers, according to the report. The airline’s Pune–Dubai service was delayed by around five hours on Tuesday and cancelled on Wednesday, based on flight-tracking data cited by the newspaper.
For passengers affected by the Delhi–Pune cancellation, the immediate issues remain replacement travel, refunds and the record of communication linked to their bookings. SpiceJet’s stated position is that the affected passengers were informed in advance through registered contact details. No further steps by the airline or passengers were detailed in the report.