IndiGo(ne)!

Last Thursday, on a crisp December afternoon in Bangalore, I sat on a panel discussing smart crisis management with emphasis on sustaining brand trust in challenging times. As I spoke, I mentioned that companies with existing strong brand trust are able to scamper away from disasters without long-term damage. And here I mentioned IndiGo Airlines — with control of almost 60 per cent of the Indian skies, they had weathered many a storm. Unbeknownst to me, the airline was grappling with a hurricane at that very moment — a turbulence so choppy that it threw flying schedules completely awry, affecting hundreds of daily flights and the lives of a staggering 6 lakh passengers.

At the root of the crisis was an innocuous change in pilot rest norms. Where all other airlines managed to adjust, IndiGo fell apart at the seams. In the ensuing mess, all the chinks in the armour were exposed, as were their clever tactics of cutting costs and running a tight ship. We cannot fault a lean business. Looking back at the gigantic losses of grounded air carriers — Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Go First, Air Deccan, Air Sahara, among others — one understands the need to be cost-efficient. But when cuts come at the expense of passenger convenience or safety, then there’s a hefty price to pay. In the last 19 years, IndiGo has been running its 420 aircraft like buses ferrying passengers from point to point, and its crew like cattle, maximising their work hours as well — a model that worked brilliantly till it didn’t. IndiGo failed to keep pace with the onset of the new policy on Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), even though it had fair warning — almost two years to be precise. And yet, come November, triggered by the new norms, technical glitches, and winter schedule, IndiGo’s systems simply crashed, marooning thousands of angry and hapless passengers.

There is much to learn from the chaos unleashed by India’s largest airline. It showed the cracks in the sky — the Indian aviation sector is pretty much a monopoly, and with that come vulnerabilities such as these. Monopoly welcomes arrogance, inequality, and unfairness into the system. With almost no competition, airlines such as IndiGo can get away with almost anything, as they will with this recent pandemonium. A rap on the knuckle, a few pounds, shillings, pence as a penalty? That’s pocket change compared to the years of past earnings and future profits. While the IndiGo crisis unravelled, the other airlines surged the prices of the flight tickets; make hay while the Sun shines. Unethical? You bet. Again, a price literally paid by helpless passengers. Should we open up the skies to allow foreign airlines to run domestic operations? The counterargument will be that we must protect our domestic carriers. If only we had also protected our national carrier, Air India! Air Asia tried to run the domestic routes through an Indian joint venture, but that didn’t really take off. High jet fuel and operational costs destroyed several airlines in the past. And now, only a few operate, and even fewer thrive. Operational costs are still rocketing up, and in fact, the entire flying experience is quite exuberant from the airport parking to the insipid cups of over-priced chai and snacks. Passenger pockets are pinched additionally in the name of user development fee, and yes, the airports are also now largely owned by two companies — hello, duopoly!

The recent calamity is also a serious matter for the Indian administration to ponder. You have allowed a single dominant player to emerge, whose inefficiencies or failure can bring air travel to a staggering halt in a billion-plus nation. Only with the advent of competition can there be a level playing field. Current players, Air India, Spicejet, and Akasa, must get their act together as well. The Indian government must focus on strengthening railway connectivity through high-speed trains. Give the airlines the competition they deserve and give common people economical yet quick travel options. What we witnessed last week is a warning of future crises. Is anyone paying attention?

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author and media entrepreneur