India is the world's third largest aviation market and fourth largest economy, but its two airlines - IndiGo (65 percent) and Air India (30 percent) capture almost the entire market with a share of 95 percent. We need a few more airlines in the market as well as meaningful policy intervention. The Indian market is expanding rapidly and aviation infrastructure will also have to keep pace with this pace. Passenger safety and satisfaction must be at the core of this important sector.
Chaos due to delay and cancellation of Indigo flights
It is necessary to balance the convenience and safety of passengers
Tarun Gupt. Recently there was a lot of chaos at Indian airports. How to express this situation? In the process of scenario assessment, analysts often define such unusual events with concepts like black swan and gray swan. In these, Black Swan is an unexpected, unexpected and unknown event. This leads to serious and adverse consequences. Can delays and cancellations of Indigo flights be kept in this category? If we investigate this, the government rules for more rest and revised roster for pilots were made two years ago. Aviation companies were given enough time to prepare for its compliance. There was nothing unexpected or uncertain in this. Naturally, due to lack of compliance, chaos was bound to arise and so it did.
A gray swan event means that an event is unlikely to occur despite being predicted. Such an incident has a huge adverse impact. IndiGo management was probably under the illusion that the strict guidelines were a cosmetic initiative, which would hardly be implemented. Despite prolonged procrastination regarding the amended rules, increasing the bar on compliance, was it really so unexpected that someday the authority would move in the direction of aviation safety and better work culture?
Amidst the brouhaha over black and gray swans, I found the red swan more appropriate. This indicates a scenario that is quite likely. Often a warning is also given along with the discussion. Despite this, due to inaction of the people responsible, adverse consequences have to be faced. DGCA had announced the revised flight duty time limit (FDTL) about two years ago. Indigo was well aware of this.
Still, he thought it best to ignore it, which was completely inappropriate. It is clear that she wanted to avoid the financial burden imposed by the new rules. This is nothing but an example of the arbitrariness of a market leading company. Since the chaos, various parties related to this matter are engaged in giving clarification. For now, the government has postponed the revised rules for some time and fixed the fare limit. Indigo has apologized and announced to return the booking amount. Even if there is some relief from this crisis in a few days, the real question is whether this relief will be permanent?
If we review the year, this year was very bad for the Indian aviation sector. An Air India plane crashed in June. Some helicopters also became victims of accidents and now the Indigo aircraft fleet is in ruins. Ultimately it is the consumers who have to bear the brunt. This is a story of a well ahead and a ditch behind. What a great irony it is that there is a conflict between safety and convenience of passengers. It is not a matter of debate whether there should be any compromise with the safety of passengers or any relaxation in the rules giving rest to pilots. There should never be pilots in the cockpit, overworked and deprived of adequate rest, but will the price of such comprehensive safety be paid only by mass cancellation of flights and inviting chaos?
No doubt safety is paramount, but we have to go beyond that. Such as the level of passenger comfort and experience. Apart from being a part of the service sector, aviation is also considered an extension of hospitality services. However the reality is far from this. Forget about facilities, here passengers struggle for basic consumer rights only. Documents related to the rights of travelers in India are meaningless. Seldom is any action taken against them. Even if it happens, it remains limited to issues like food and refund only. Unlike developed countries, airlines in India are not penalized for operational inefficiencies.
Even if you book tickets at low fares in advance, in case the scheduled flight is delayed or cancelled, the passenger who is forced to buy an alternative ticket ends up paying much more than the refund he would have received from the original ticket. Airlines may delay or even cancel flights without prior notice, but any passenger being late is unacceptable. This may be an imperative at the operational level, but is clearly one-sided. It is necessary to amend the rules so much that it is mandatory for the airline to give adequate compensation to the passengers in lieu of the flight being delayed or canceled due to its fault. This is a common practice in Europe and America.
The government's initiative to announce strict action on IndiGo, reduce the number of its flights and not compromise on safety standards is commendable. This attempt to undercut the market leader may run the risk of seeming like a relic of the socialist era, but in the present situation it would be like missing the main issue. This action by the state should be seen as ensuring compliance rather than attacking any company. Anyway, any kind of monopoly in essential services should be completely unacceptable. Even in America, considered the bastion of capitalism and free market, there has been a sense of caution towards dealing with monopolies in important services.
The dominance of two companies cannot be said to be a sign of good health of the free market. India is the world's third largest aviation market and fourth largest economy, but its two airlines - IndiGo (65 percent) and Air India (30 percent) control almost the entire market with a share of 95 percent. We need a few more airlines in the market as well as meaningful policy intervention. The Indian market is expanding rapidly and aviation infrastructure will also have to keep pace with this pace. Passenger safety and satisfaction must be at the core of this important sector.
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