INDIA, Dec. 8 -- Manjuri traveled from Shillong to Guwahati carrying her husband's embalmed body in a coffin, planning to take an IndiGo flight to Kolkata for the final rites.

She reached the airport on time, but every IndiGo flight was cancelled one after another without warning.

"There was no information," she said, her voice breaking. "The boards still showed 'scheduled,' but staff kept saying the planes weren't coming. I can't take the coffin back to Shillong, and the 48-hour embalming period is almost over. Who will take responsibility for my husband's body now?"

She had left Shillong believing her flight would operate. Had the airline informed her even six hours earlier, she would not have made the journey.

Manjuri's ordeal is o...