Too big to fail? IndiGo crisis exposes risks in Indian aviation

A wave of flight cancellations by IndiGo, India’s largest airline, sparked a week of chaos and grounded tens of thousands of passengers, laying bare the risks of having a duopoly-like situation in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.

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For years, IndiGo with a 65% domestic market share has helped Indians realize their dreams of flying — an aspiration shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who once said those “in slippers should also be seen in aircraft.”

The airline became the poster child of the nation’s aviation boom in recent years, with its promise of low fares and on-time performance.

But last week changed it all: IndiGo cancelled at least 2,000 flights because of a shortage of pilots after it failed to plan adequately for new rules limiting how many hours they work. That upended vacation plans, weddings and flooded social media with photos and videos of luggage piling up at terminals — scenes never witnessed in India’s aviation history.