The Lesson Must Be Seismic: Why Indigo Must Feel the Full Weight of Government Authority

Indigo appears to have devised a cunning and dangerous strategy aimed at using its dominant market share as leverage to coerce the regulator. However, this plan fundamentally failed to account for the predictable and authoritative response from the very body mandated by the government to oversee the sector. Flexing market muscles against a competitor is drastically different from confronting a statutory regulator. The response from the regulatory body, particularly when backed by the full might of the government, can be devastating for an operator. The widely touted 65% market share could be rendered irrelevant overnight. Once this aggressive strategy was initiated, the operator lost control of the resulting chain of events. What began as planned and deliberate cancellations has rapidly devolved into a fait accompli, trapping the carrier in a vicious cycle. The operator is now in an uncontrollable tailspin and cannot achieve a favorable resolution. The resulting self-inflicted damage is projected to be extensive and long-lasting. Revival, let alone mere asset preservation, would require nothing short of a miracle.

          The cascading consequences will be severe:

Public and Regulatory Backlash: Continued cancellations will lead to an exponential surge in public anger, escalating the frustration of both the regulator and the government.

 Internal Strain: Frustration within Indigo will mount to unmanageable levels due to the carrier's inability to regain operational control.

Financial Collapse: The mounting financial costs will likely compel the carrier to sell off its aircraft assets, leading to a massive exodus of staff and a deluge of litigation.

We are now positioned to witness a classic, dramatic act of corporate self-destruction unfold in the public arena. I do not subscribe to mere conspiracy, yet the full, unsettling truth surrounding IndiGo remains shrouded. Let us set aside speculation and examine the cold, hard facts we possess. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations norms two years ago—a span granting ample time for all operators to assimilate and implement the necessary systemic adjustments. While every other major operator complied with these mandated requirements, a chilling question hangs in the air: Why did IndiGo alone choose non-compliance? Was this failure a simple oversight, or a deliberate, calculated challenge to the authority of the government and the integrity of the nation’s safety standards? The public now watches, waiting to see if IndiGo will be permitted to walk away unscathed and scot-free from this potentially perilous act of defiance. The silence of the consequences is, itself, a looming threat. The least that the public expects is that the government will bring to bear it full weight on Indigo to feel the weight of the consequences of flaunting the norms. The issuance of directives to industry operators is a mandated function of regulators.

We can draw a parallel to the common experience of receiving instructions from parents, elders, or teachers during our childhood; it was generally not expected that these authorities would conduct daily compliance checks. It is, therefore, unrealistic and abnormal to expect a regulator to constantly monitor the actions of industry operators, especially when the operator is a private entity. Compliance should be an inherent responsibility of the operator, not a constant policing effort by the regulatory body. Hence the media in the country must desist from focusing exclusively on this aspect for harvesting TRPs for their own selves. The time for measured correction is past. Indigo should dread to incur the punitive costs so immense that it will echo as a chilling, unequivocal warning across every private enterprise and operating sector in this nation. Soon, every corner of the carrier will feel the full, crushing weight of the government's authority and power. This is not a mere fine; it is an impending, seismic shift that will engrave a lesson upon the industry's memory—a lesson Indigo will bear, and others will remember, for a very long time to come. As per news reports of this morning on Television indigo claims to have restored 95% normalcy, if this is true then why was the chaos perpetrated by Indigo. The government must treat this incident as a deliberate act of sabotage of Aviation Industry, with a larger purpose of damaging the economic growth of the country. The Authorities must investigate the promoters source of funds & their legitimacy with which Indigo was initially funded. Is everything above board.  Next what steps & measures did indigo take to mitigate the situation of the stranded passengers. The government must unilaterally fix a compensation amount for each passenger that Indigo must pay digitally within next 24-36 hours. Freeze the accounts of Indigo & the promoters. Seize the passports of the promoters.

As regards the other operators don’t ignore their unethical practice of price surging without any valid reason. Compel each operator to refund the excess amount collected from the passengers who may or may not have traveled as on date. The total sum hence refunded by each operator must be multiplied by 2 & that amount should be the penalty payable by each operator to the government as a punitive cost for unethical business practice.

 Suggestions for DGCA.

1 Audit body for ground personnel training of each operator.

2. Audit body for cockpit crew to Aircraft ratio to operate the number of flights proposed by each operator.

3. Audit body for fares.

4. compensation to passengers for delays beyond 30 minutes of STD.

@DGCAIndia @Ministry_CA a mandatory, non-negotiable compensation structure be imposed on all commercial airline operators for delays exceeding thirty (30) minutes past the scheduled departure time.

The compensation payable to each affected passenger shall be three times (3X) the fare paid for the delayed sector.

Compensation must be paid if the delay exceeds 30 minutes and 0 seconds i.e., beginning at 30:01

Proof of Delay and Data Mandate

To ensure accurate attribution of responsibility and timely compensation, I propose mandating transparent data provision:

Delay Measurement: The official time of delay will be calculated based on the difference between the Scheduled Time of Departure (STD) and the actual time of Request for Pushback by the Flight Captain.

Data Source: The Air Traffic Control (ATC) or the Airport Authority (AAI) shall be mandated to officially record and digitally furnish the precise time of the Captain's Pushback Request for every single commercial flight departing from their jurisdiction.

This standardized departure data must be provided to the @DGCAIndia @Ministry_CA on a daily basis to facilitate audit and compliance.

Payment and Compliance

Compensation must be processed swiftly and transparently to the passenger. All due compensation must be paid by the

concerned operator exclusively via digital modes within a defined timeframe of the delay occurrence.

The airline operator must submit digital records of all compensation payments made (including passenger PNR, flight number, compensation amount, and payment timestamp to the @DGCAIndia @Ministry_CA for compliance auditing.

Penalty for Non-Compliance

To deter non-compliance and record manipulation, strict penalties are essential:

In the event that an airline operator is found to be fudging, altering, or willfully withholding compensation records or delay data submitted to the regulatory bodies, the mandated compensation rate for the affected flights shall automatically escalate to five times (5X) the fare paid by the passenger. 

Even under such circumstances someone's creative juices are flowing. These are the possible new players in the domestic Aviation sector.

These revelations by the Pilot from Indigo will definitely play big part in the investigations.

Allegations by the Pilot:

Ironic an ExPat is complaining.

Let this be clear: The government must possess an iron grip presence within every critical sector. This state-backed operation is the non-negotiable anchor required to stabilize the national economy. Its capacity to weather short-term financial storms provides the ultimate counterweight, effectively preventing private monopolies from charging usurious prices or obstructing necessary evolution.