IndiGo’s cancellations of at least 4,500 flights and subsequent price surges following a scheduling crisis left thousands of passengers stranded two months ago.
The antitrust body’s scrutiny is the latest blow for the airline after India’s aviation regulator imposed a penalty last month, cautioned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers.
Hearing PIL on aviation safety, court asked DGCA to justify withdrawal of new flight duty rules that barred airlines from substituting leave with weekly rest. Notices sent to IndiGo, DGCA, Centre.
While the commission didn’t mention provisions under which IndiGo's market domination would be examined, Competition Act 2002 prohibits abuse of dominant position by any enterprise.
The IndiGo crisis is nothing short of a threat to India’s stability. Could it be an experiment? Can this happen in any other crucial sector like power or railways?
Corporations resent regulations that curb their freedom to operate. If they want to be trusted, they should respond to society’s needs, rather than lobbying against regulations.
IndiGo showed how a single point of failure can ripple across a sector. In defence, where there is no external fallback, the consequences are far more serious.
The crisis also puts DGCA’s vacancies in the eye of the storm. Naidu told the Rajya Sabha in July this year that 190 out of 410 DGCA vacancies would be filled this year.
Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.
In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.
IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.
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