For an airline that prides itself on ferrying its passengers to their destinations on time, Indigo’s performance in the last few days, marked by unprecedented flight delays and cancellations, should be a cause for concern. Even shame. This is because pilots’ associations have alleged — the accusation is grave — that the airline created the crisis wilfully so that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is forced to put on hold the newly updated Flight Duty Time Limitations, which seek to curtail duty hours for airline crew for the sake of passenger safety. Significantly, Indigo had cited a bouquet of factors to explain its ineptitude: technology glitches, adverse weather conditions, a congested aviation system, and the delay in the implementation of the FTDL are among these. But there can be no doubt about the fact that Indigo’s inability —unwillingness — to prepare well in advance for the altered rules on flight duty compounded the crisis. Ironically, the errant airline had its way with the aviation ministry announcing that the entire gamut of FTDL regulations would remain in abeyance. At the heart of this dereliction of public responsibility on part of the airline lies the old malaise that afflicts corporations: profiteering. By continuing its freeze on hiring, Indigo has shown that it is not immune to the perverse corporate attraction of stretching its resources, including manpower, thin in a bid to maximise gain.
The brunt, unsurprisingly, was borne by the passengers. Disruptions, delays and terminations — more than 1000 flights were cancelled on Friday while the number dropped slightly to over 800 on Saturday — caused severe inconveniences. Worse, in a travesty to passenger rights, adequate arrangements were not made to ensure basic levels of comfort for stranded travellers. What was equally shocking was that airline ticket prices continued to skyrocket in a number of sectors, distressing fliers further. The ministry of civil aviation has stepped in and decided to cap fares. But this will not address the real issue. The principal concern is that Indigo appears to be taking advantage of its near-monopoly of the Indian sky — the airline controls an estimated 60%-66% of the domestic aviation market — sacrificing its commitment to service at the altar of lucre. The prime minister has often spoken of democratising airline travel in the country. Meaningful democratisation is contingent upon a wider pool of choice in terms of service providers for consumers. The Indian air traveller must be given a set of competent domestic airlines to choose from.