Analysis of Centre’s 10% action against IndiGo

Although there were claims that the situation was improving, IndiGo canceled nearly 400 flights. Despite this, only symbolic action was taken against IndiGo. The government summoned IndiGo’s management on Tuesday. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologized for his mistakes. They also issued an ad apologizing, but this did not ease the difficulties faced by passengers. They apologized after they were caught red-handed, but what good is an apology now?

After receiving a response from IndiGo, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) first ordered a 5 percent discount on IndiGo’s flights. On Tuesday evening, Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu doubled the number of flight cancellations to 10 per cent, but no one seems to be worried about 100 per cent of passengers affected. There is no reason to worry about the distress experienced by all passengers on every canceled flight. This action is completely inadequate considering how much IndiGo has irritated people across the country.

The Civil Aviation Minister stated that the ministry considers it necessary to reduce the number of flights on all IndiGo’s routes to stabilize the airline’s operations and reduce cancellations. A 10 percent discount instruction was given. Following this instruction, IndiGo will continue to operate flights to all destinations as before.

This means IndiGo will have to reduce its flights by 10 percent. These vacant quotas will be given to other airlines. IndiGo was allowed to operate 15,104 flights per week during the winter season. This means IndiGo can operate 2158 flights per day. Now, after the 10 percent discount, IndiGo will be able to operate 13,594 flights per week, which means 1942 flights per day. This means there will be a reduction of only 216 flights per day for IndiGo.

The same IndiGo that held air passengers across the country hostage for a week and completely disregarded the comfort and safety of passengers, faced a mere 10 per cent reduction in flights. IndiGo, which increased the number of flights by 6 percent during the winter season without making any preparations and offering false numbers, decreased by only 10 percent.

Nearly 5,000 IndiGo flights have been canceled in the last seven days. Assuming an average of 150 passengers per flight, this means approximately 750,000 passengers were affected in just seven days. Even though the government is yet to take strict action against IndiGo and the airline has saved money by not hiring enough pilots and cabin crew, this incident has left a stain on IndiGo’s reputation in the airline market that will not be easily erased.