Anupam Mittal accuses Vistara and Indigo of cancelling flights due to less passengers. Can airlines do so?

It is pretty annoying to have your flight schedule disturbed. Delays and cancellations can be frustrating, especially for those running on tight schedules and emergencies. One such person venting their frustration is Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal. 

What

On June 15, Mittal tweeted about a "clear pattern" emerging of several Indian airlines including low-cost carrier IndiGo and Air Vistara cancelling flights because they don't have enough passengers. 

Mittal tagged the DGCA and asked them to investigate the issue. He complained that this practice of airlines cancelling flights without giving reasons was inconveniencing passengers, especially the elderly. 

Mittal said that these airlines were putting the passengers on an earlier or a later flight in the name of "rescheduling".

So far, IndiGo or Air Vistara have not responded to Mittal's complaints. 

In the comments, people shared similar harrowing ordeals they had to deal with. One Twitter user described how he had initially booked a SpiceJet flight at 9.30 am, but after the airline changed the flight timings 4 times; and he finally took off at 6.30 pm. 

He also said that his return flight timings were changed twice. 

Mittal said that his family's flight was also cancelled and rescheduled. 

The first question to unpack here is whether airlines can, and do cancel flights because there aren't enough passengers on board.

Mittal's tweet is assuming the flight was cancelled due to fewer footfalls. The airlines did not give any reason as such. 

• This author has flown on flights which were more or less empty. So, yes, flights do operate even if there are very few passengers on board. 
• In fact, reports say it is rare for airlines to cancel flights just because there aren't enough passengers on board. They do, however, cancel flights if the operating costs are too much, but it is also not true for all.
• But airlines can have a number of reasons for cancelling flights ranging from technical issues to missing crew members. 
• It is also important to remember that flights also need to be somewhere for the next leg of the journey. So, cancellations on one route only because of lack of passengers won't be in the interests of the airlines. 

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What should you know as a customer? 

• Flyers should know their rights when dealing with airlines. 
• Airlines have to inform passengers about any cancellations or changes in schedule at least 24 hours before departure. 
• They have to either refund the passenger or put them on another flight, whatever is agreeable to the passenger. 
• When it comes to weather-related cancellations, airlines aren't obligated to refund passengers or put them on another flight. But most do.

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