WHY INDIGO MUST LEARN THE LESSON AMBASSADOR FAILED

IndiGo's hubris met regulatory reality as leadership paralysis and pilot shortages shattered a hard-earned reputation in days, traumatising passengers and exposing India's dependence on aviation giants

- G R GOPINATH Founder, Air Deccan; former Captain, Indian Army

But the ground reality today is that Indian airlines have to plan keeping these bottlenecks in mind.

While Air India, SpiceJet, and Akasa complied with the new rules in time, IndiGo cocked a snook at the regulator. Why? Simply because it thought it could, and sweating fewer pilots for longer hours increases profits-and stock prices.

But after being chastened by the horrific fatal crash of Air India's Ahmedabad-London flight earlier this year and increasing minor accidents reported across airlines, the new Director General of Civil Aviation refused to budge on the new rules. IndiGo was caught flatfooted.

The initial trickle of disruptions turned into a flood and soon into a tsunami, with about 1,500 flight cancellations on December 5, impacting a staggering million-plus passengers over just a few days. Thousands of bags are still stuck at airports across the country.

The scale of anxiety, stress, and suffering it caused-for missing funerals, exams, job interviews, and weddings-cannot be fathomed. The hapless IndiGo ground staff at airports were abandoned to face a mob by the airline's senior management.