India’s aviation ambitions drift dangerously towards recurring crises

India's troubled aviation sector faces repeating failures despite decades of expansion efforts.

- ALOK MEHTA

For the past three decades, India's aviation industry has symbolised both "the ambition to fly and the compulsion to fall.

After economic liberalisation in the 1990s, the era of private airlines began. For the first time, people saw air travel break free from royal luxury and enter the reach of the common middle class. But this story was never simple. While state-run companies like Indian Airlines and later Air India remained stuck in losses due to corruption, poor management and political interference, private brands such as Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Sahara Airlines and others gradually sank under bankruptcy, debt, irregularities and investigations after an initial period of glamour.

Today, when IndiGo once considered the strongest and most efficient airline model in India is grappling with cost pressures, operational challenges and market volatility, it is natural to ask: where exactly is the flaw in Indian aviation? And who is responsible for this flaw company owners, regulators, policymakers or the entire system?

For a long time, IndiGo was called a "model case study" in Indian aviation. Started in 2006 by founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal who did not come from major aviation backgrounds the airline was considered a set of "new players" in the industry, yet their strategy was extremely aggressive and professional. A single aircraft model (A320/A321), on-time flights, low fares and rapid fleet expansion pushed IndiGo to more than 50% of the domestic market share. But today IndiGo is facing new challenges: rising operational costs fuel, airport charges and maintenance inflation; shortage of pilots and cabin crew; high duty-time pressure; technical issues such as strike threats; hundreds of flight cancellations and grounded aircraft due to engine disputes; and uncertainty in international expansion.