IndiGo crisis exposes risks in aviation

A wave offlightcancellationsbyIndiGo, 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.

- ABHIJITH GANAPAVARAM

Passengers wait outside the IndiGo Airlines ticketing counter at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, on Dec 6, after several IndiGo flights were cancelled.

(REUTERS)

Foryears, IndiGo with a 65% domestic market share has helped Indians realise 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 country’s aviation boom in recent years, with its promise of low airfares 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.

IndiGo’s woes come at a critical time for the airline and the industry. Rival Air India, which commands a 27% market share and was owned bythe government until 2022, has for years faced complaints of an ageing fleet and poor service, andis battling tighter scrutiny since a June crash Killed 260 people.

IndiGo has said it hopes to return to normalcy in the coming days, but its troubles have drawn warnings from both politicians and aviation experts. The crisis has raised concerns about the risks of over-reliance ona single carrier and whether the airline is really too big to fail.