At a time when most Indian airways are posting losses, IndiGo stands out as the one worthwhile service. But, whereas loss-making airways managed to adjust to DGCA directives inside the allotted 18-month interval, the one airline turning a revenue failed to take action. The DGCA had offered ample time for compliance and workforce planning. However whereas others targeted on assembly regulatory necessities, IndiGo appeared to pursue a special technique—creating disruption to strain the federal government. Extremely, this strategy labored: as a substitute of imposing penalties, the federal government selected to calm down the norms.

Aviation knowledgeable Harsh Vardhan squarely referred to as this complete disaster a failure of IndiGo’s administration. He mentioned that is a particularly unprecedented state of affairs. Passengers have been struggling for 3 days, and that is the height vacationer, marriage ceremony, and enterprise season. IndiGo’s declare that the brand new FDTL coverage abruptly created issues is nothing however a administration failure. The coverage wasn’t launched in a single day—it was formulated over years of deliberation and was finalised a 12 months in the past.

Harsh Vardhan reminded that the mushy launch of the FDTL passed off on July 1, 2025, and it was absolutely applied from November 1, 2025. Different operators like Air India and SpiceJet made well timed changes, which is why no main disaster emerged there. What surprises him most is the timing—if the coverage was efficient from November 1, why did this sudden “rampage” start solely a month later, in the beginning of December?

“The Authorities of India has determined to institute a high-level inquiry into this disruption. The inquiry will study what went improper at Indigo, decide accountability wherever required for applicable actions, and suggest measures to forestall related disruptions sooner or later, making certain that passengers don’t face such hardships once more,” mentioned the Ministry of Civil Aviation in an announcement.

Nobody is aware of what is going to come out of the inquiry however, curiously, IndiGo bought rewarded for its blackmailing,  as a substitute of getting punished as the federal government relaxed norms. 

Because of the IndiGo induced turbulence, the airfare on key routes touched Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000. IndiGo didn’t merely cancel flights—it introduced the system to a standstill, grounding plane, showcasing its clout, and successfully difficult the federal government to reply. As an alternative of asserting its authority, the NDA authorities backed down and rolled again its personal directive. By way of deliberate mismanagement, the airline pushed the system towards chaos. The suspension of over a thousand IndiGo flights severely disrupted the economic system, sending resort costs and ticket fares on different airways hovering.

“The central authorities has ordered a probe and refunds—however the query is: when the monopoly of personal firms and the federal government’s silence come collectively, who will shield the frequent individuals? Who’re you working for? The general public or the pursuits of huge company homes?” Former Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia rightly questioned the federal government.

Shockingly, a rustic of 1.4 billion individuals depends totally on simply two main home carriers—IndiGo and Air India. IndiGo’s dominance is so important that even Chief of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi publicly criticised the federal government for its oversight failures. “IndiGo fiasco is the price of this Govt’s monopoly mannequin. As soon as once more, it’s bizarre Indians who pay the worth – in delays, cancellations and helplessness. India deserves truthful competitors in each sector, not match-fixing monopolies,” mentioned Gandhi. 

For twenty years, successive governments have allowed main airways to break down as a substitute of restructuring them below new possession. Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airways are prime examples: each may have been revived by eradicating problematic promoters, but no institutional mechanism was activated. The sample repeated itself with Go First. When three airways vanish in a decade, it alerts not merely company failures however a systemic unwillingness to safeguard competitors and shopper curiosity, wrote Prashant Tewari, public coverage knowledgeable, talked about in a current report in The Pioneer.

At this time, IndiGo controls over half of India’s home aviation market, with the Air India group holding a lot of the the rest. Smaller airways function on the margins, too weak to affect pricing or service requirements.

Tewari wrote that disappearance of three airways inside years present authorities’s failure of defending competitors and shopper curiosity. 

This duopoly-like setting has suffocated passengers: airfares on busy home routes routinely exceed these for comparable distances in Europe, Southeast Asia, and even the USA. A two-hour flight inside India can value greater than a four-hour worldwide journey elsewhere.

“IndiGo airline fiasco reveals that Modi govt is both incompetent or in collusion. In both case, India deserves higher. Folks have by no means suffered a lot,” mentioned Former Delhi CM and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.

For years, India’s aviation sector has wanted no less than eight to 10 strong operators to foster true competitors, stabilise fares, and minimise disruptions. As an alternative, new entrants face steep obstacles, licensing strikes painfully slowly, and overseas carriers in search of enlargement are hindered by outdated protectionist insurance policies disguised as nationwide safety issues. This refusal to liberalise the skies has turned India into one of many world’s most costly home aviation markets.

In response to Tewari, the duoploy ecosystem fits sure entrenched pursuits. With opaque decision-making, India’s aviation sector features with minimal accountability, he opined.

Although the federal government’s UDAN scheme was launched to make air journey accessible to the frequent citizen, hovering fares have made flying more and more unaffordable.

Apart from opening new airports, the federal government should urgently liberalise the sector, encourage new home gamers, revive grounded airways below competent administration, and permit credible overseas carriers to compete below regulated situations. Till then, Indian travellers will proceed to pay excessively, studying the identical harsh classes time and again.