IndiGo: SOME PLANE SPEAKING

IndiGo: SOME PLANE SPEAKING 

How airline, DGCA & govt failed passengers. And some mordant humour on airport hostage drama 

Saurabh.Sinha@timesofindia.com08.12.2025

Indian aviation seems to be on a ventilator, after suffering a multi-organ failure. The collapse of IndiGo’s schedule integrity over the past few days has led to thousands of flights being cancelled and delayed, and left lakhs of passengers stranded at airports across the airline’s wide network. This, in the final month of a year that saw the tragic Air India Ahmedabad crash, a series of chopper accidents in Uttarakhand, ATC system collapse at IGIA, and GPS spoofing at airports far from international borders. Public outcry forced GOI to finally intervene and India’s biggest airline has begun ramping up operations. As the dust hopefully settles, let’s not forget how different stakeholders have failed India’s flying public. 

● IndiGo: The new, more humane pilot duty norms, resisted by Indian carriers for many years, as these would increase pilot requirement and hence wage bills, were coming into effect from Nov 1. This was known for a long time. Yet IndiGo did not prepare for rollout. Perhaps it expected an exemption, and when it didn’t get one, the result was mass cancellations. 

To bring IndiGo back on track, certain provisions of FDTL, for pilots operating its Airbus A320 family planes, have been put on hold till Feb 10, 2026. DGCA’s show-cause issued to the airline’s CEO & COO Saturday night clearly says that the flight disruptions were caused by non-provisioning for “the approved flight duty time limitation scheme” and that “such large scale operational failures indicate significant lapses in planning, oversight, and resource management”. The airline neither informed passengers about the cancellations or delays, nor did it provide the facilities it is supposed to in such situations. “As CEO, you are responsible for ensuring effective management of the airline. But you have failed in your duty,” the notice to IndiGo adds. The cash-rich airline has also not been able to address its pilots’ grievances. After ‘adjusting’ for a month, in Nov, by flying as per airline requirements under the new FDTL, many of them refused to do so any longer this month.

 ● Aviation authorities: Govt first deferred the court-ordered implementation of the new FDTL from 2024, which possibly made the airline feel it will be able to manage yet another extension, beyond Nov 1. IndiGo’s confidence was not misplaced. After Operation Sindoor, it was directed to return two wide-body Boeing 777s leased from Turkish Airlines by Aug 31. Later on, it was allowed to keep operating them till the end of next Feb. However, implementation of the new FDTL was not deferred. Plus, IndiGo got its schedule for 6% more domestic flights this winter approved. No one checked if the airline had the crew strength to operate the approved, over 15,000 weekly domestic flights. Meanwhile, despite inducting a plane a week, IndiGo went slow on hiring pilots and on their command upgrade, to keep its wage bill in check.

 ● Other Indian carriers: Once IndiGo mass cancellations started, passengers were forced to buy lastminute tickets on other airlines, by coughing up to 4-6 times the normal fares. A one-way UdaipurDelhi cattle class ticket that usually costs ₹5,0006,000 rose up to ₹25,000. On Saturday , aviation ministry capped domestic airfares at ₹18,000 (taxes, UDF, security fee extra). But by then, a large number of people had paid extortionate prices to fly to their destinations. 

● Govt as a whole: India has among the highest operating costs for airlines globally. Many of these costs, like for lease rentals, are dollar denominated. INR recently breached the 90 level. On top of that, jet fuel faces disproportionately higher pressure, to keep prices of politically inflammable petrol, diesel, and LPG in check. And taxes too. As a result, a billionaire needs to remain at least a millionaire to keep running his or her airline. Or, only a mega conglomerate with multiple cash cows can sustain an airline group. Just like Amar, Akbar, Anthony simultaneously gave blood to Nirupa Roy. Net result is that India has a duopoly of airlines – Tata Group and IndiGo. Other players are struggling to get either paisa or planes. This means consumer is not the king as far as the sky is concerned. A sudden mass cancellation by the airline with 65% domestic market share meant the remaining airlines with 35% market share, could raise fares by up to 400%!

● Finally, passengers: Why did they choose to fly when they could have driven or gone by rail? Sivakumar.Sundaram@timesofindia.com There was a time when air travel was aspirational. You packed, reached early , and announced to relatives that you were ‘going by flight’, in the same tone people now reserve for going to Mars. Today, with 16cr Indians flying every year, airports have become slightly shinier bus stands, with better but inexplicably expensive samosas and far more inventive ways to ruin your week. The recent Great Indian Sky Meltdown, in which the airline ‘did not Go’ discovered that pilots are, inconveniently, human, has given us a brutal refresher course in an old truth: when regulators and airlines arm-wrestle over safety rules, the only guaranteed loser is the common man, clutching a boarding pass with absolutely no ability to board. Weddings shifted to Zoom, brides and grooms attended their own receptions from other states, patients missed appointments, students missed exams, and one-way tickets briefly cost more than some people’s first cars. The only things taking off on time were airfares and blood pressure. So what is the helpless flyer expected to do when airlines convert the sky into a negotiation room? Here, then, are some survival tips for India’s frequent hostages

● Assume the worst, especially when it matters most: If your travel is for a visa interview, surgery, board exam or your own wedding, please assume your flight will be cancelled at the exact moment you have paid ₹480 for coffee and a sandwich, which looks like it survived the previous FDTL regime. Book two flights on two different airlines. Also book a train. India is a land of redundancy: two SIM cards, three astrologers, four family WhatsApp groups but when it comes to travel, we behave like monks practising minimalism. ● In the era of aviation roulette, all roads must lead somewhere: A sensible citizen now maintains: a train option bookmarked, a reasonably clean busservice in mind, and one reliable cab aggregator, plus the local taxi union number. When the sky collapses, the road still exists and usually has better FDTL norms for drivers than pilots. ● Never book the last flight out: The last flight of the day is not a convenience, it is a dare. It is a message to fate saying, ‘Please pick me for adventure.’ Choose earlier departures. Fog, backlog, mysterious “technical issues”, and the great algorithm of cancellations all intensify as the clock moves towards midnight. 

● Fine print exists only to mock you: Even if you read the fine print, the airline has the last word. ‘Full refund’ actually means ‘full credit shell’, valid for three reincarnations, redeemable only on alternate Tuesdays if the flight is not fully booked. ‘Free meal’ for a delayed flight means a stale sandwich and a bottle of water. Travel insurance has terms so stringent even the gods cannot fulfil them. Carry your mother’s thepla, idli, or paratha and water in a steel thermos. India’s airport security still allows water – a small mercy in turbulent times. At worst, you can picnic cheerfully while others queue for an hour only to discover that the only thing left is a biscuit packet you are gluten-intolerant to. And yes, when airlines say ‘hotel’, they actually mean ‘go home’. ● Anything cheap is the most expensive: We love the lowest fare the way we love festival discounts and free kachori with chai. But that extra ₹400 saved may cost ₹40,000 in last-minute tickets, taxis, and hotel cancellations. Sometimes, the slightly costlier airline or simply a saner time slot is the real ‘budget option’.

 ● Anger is free, BP medication is not: Shouting at a 23-year-old ground staffer will not produce a rested pilot, a fresh aircraft, or an apologetic regulator. It will, however, produce a new influencer making a viral reel of your meltdown. Far better to sit quietly with your thepla and achaar and accept the philosophical vastness of the situation. In the end, we, the common people, do not control market share, FDTL acronyms, or aviation policy. But we can control our buffers, our backups, and our expectations. And now it is evident that even ‘on-time performance’ is not a promise, it is a bargaining chip that can make even regulators bend backwards. Until the skies become truly safe and sane, treat every successful, punctual flight as what it has quietly become in India’s monopoly skies: an accidental upgrade to business class, delivered in economy.