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

Airline became the poster child of the nation's aviation boom in recent years, with its promise of low fares and on-time performance

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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.

For years, IndiGo with a 65 per cent 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 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.

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