Abhishek Sharma slams Indigo for worst experience, ruining holiday

Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma recently shared his frustration with IndiGo airline after a negative experience at Delhi airport, which he claims ruined his holiday.

Sharma, who has played 12 T20Is for India and will be part of the team’s upcoming match against England, took to Instagram to explain the situation.

He did not mention his travel destination, but described how the airline’s poor service led to him missing his flight.

Sharma explained that despite arriving on time at the correct counter, he was redirected to another counter by staff, where he was later informed that check-in had closed. This caused him to miss his flight, leading to a ruined one-day holiday.

Sharma expressed his frustration with the airline and its staff, particularly with counter manager Ms. Sushmita Mittal.

In his Instagram story, he said, "I had the worst experience with Indigo at Delhi airport, and the behaviour of staff, especially counter manager Ms. Sushmita Mittal, was absolutely unacceptable. I arrived on time at the correct counter, but they redirected me unnecessarily to another counter, only to tell me later that check-in was closed, making me miss my flight. I only had a one-day holiday, which has now been completely ruined. To make it even worse, they are offering no further helpful assistance. This is by far the worst airline experience, and worst staff management I've ever had."

The incident comes amid poor ratings for IndiGo in the ‘AirHelp Score report 2024,’ which ranked the airline 103rd out of 109 carriers. The report also ranked Air India 61st and AirAsia 94th.

In response to the criticism, IndiGo rejected the findings of the report. The airline defended its service by highlighting its high ranking in punctuality and low customer complaint ratio, as reported by India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

IndiGo also criticized the methodology of the AirHelp survey, pointing out that it did not disclose sample sizes from India or adhere to global compensation standards, casting doubt on the report’s reliability.