THE meltdown in India’s civil aviation sector caused by the IndiGo fiasco has pulled the lid off a dangerous political culture of promoting monopoly. A single player controlling a major part of Indian skies with a misplaced notion about its authority-backed superiority brought untold pain to lakhs of passengers, causing unprecedented havoc. The mass cancellations of thousands of flights in the last one week by IndiGo has caused a serious dent to India’s image and at the same time exposed the perils of vesting too much power into just one entity. At the root of the crisis is the recalcitrance of InterGlobe Aviation Limited, which operates IndiGo, in following a new set of regulations on night flying and weekly rest for pilots.

 

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had introduced the long-delayed Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) reforms two years ago in consonance with global safety norms. It was devised to cut down the problem of pilot fatigue and equal distribution of work through a systematic duty roster. All airlines operating in India were supposed to comply with the stricter regulations. However, IndiGo took its dominant position in the market for granted and kept dragging its feet on adjusting flight schedules and crew management. IndiGo had almost two years in hand to effect these changes to comply with the safety protocols laid down by the DGCA, yet, the airlines showed phenomenal audacity in delaying compliance. The impudence has unravelled into a spectacular collapse of the system, leaving lakhs of people badly affected. Travel plans were upended for many as people were left to tears without any remedy. Those who tried other flight options were made to pay through their noses as other players found an opportunity to milk the crisis by hiking fares.

 

It was only after the Centre intervened that a fare cap was introduced on tickets. By then, airports had turned into battlegrounds and IndiGo’s ground staff was paying for their management’s arrogance. The point here is not about the behaviour of IndiGo’s management but the confidence about its ability to come out unpunished despite grave lapses. It is impossible to believe that the DGCA was not aware of the lapses and the airline’s reluctance to carry out system changes. Yet, the regulatory authority adopted a slow-go approach in correcting the flaws, perhaps pressured by the monopoly IndiGo enjoys in Indian aviation. The regulator is at a bigger fault here for allowing a crisis to swell into a major disaster. If there is simply no accountability for the regulators, then the people must prepare to become hostage of more such situations in the future not just in aviation but also in other sectors. All the hasty corrective steps now being taken by the Centre are only a band-aid solution. IndiGo has been asked to refund the amount for cancelled flights. The amount runs into crores, underlining the heavy dependence of flyers on only one airline. But there is no word about additional compensation to the affected people.

 

For a majority of those people, the flight crisis was a disaster as some missed their job interviews, some their own marriage functions and many were left stranded at the airport without any relief. The mental agony caused to these people has not even figured in the corrective steps. The Government U-turn on rules around pilot fatigue should be seen as another major climbdown by the Centre forced by an adamant offender. It had no choice as the immediate priority was to restore order by returning the planes back to the skies. However, the roll-back has set a dangerous precedent, rightly slammed by the Airlines Pilots Association. It has sullied India’s image among tourists and travellers. Already scarred by the deadly Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad, India’s aviation scene has lost more sheen after the IndiGo debacle. While probe is on in the June crash that killed 260 people, the IndiGo episode is a poor commentary on the country’s efforts to put in place a rules-based industry.

 

When a player becomes too big to tame, it points towards a glaring anomaly in implementation of business and economic policies. In this case, making aviation an open sky to soar for only a couple of players is a grave mistake that needs course correction with immediate effect. As per International Air Transport Association (IATA) data, IndiGo commands a 60 per cent market share with 2,000 daily flights. Second in the pie structure is Tata Group’s Air India with a market share of 13.6 per cent while Air India Express holds 6.3 per cent. Vistara and SpiceJet are at 6.9 and 3.5 per cent, respectively. IndiGo and Air India are the only two major players in the sector but with the Tata Group still struggling with legacy problems dogging the former national carrier, IndiGo has raced ahead in capturing important slots on almost every route. It has led to concentration of control in one hand, leading to over-dependence on a single flying system.

 

When the UDAN scheme was introduced by the Centre to connect smaller centres via air, many smaller and emerging players were supposed to get slots. However, with hardly a few remaining following the collapse of several airlines including Jet Airways, Kingfisher and GoAir due to various reasons, IndiGo filled the gaps, expanding into smaller cities and secondary routes. The changing market dynamics allowed the carrier to consolidate its market share, hardly leaving any room for other players. The lesson for the Government is clear – make every sector a place with multiple choices for the consumer. A domain for public service cannot be allowed to become a mirror image of the country’s political system.