New Delhi: IndiGo is the biggest airline company in India and is experiencing one of the most difficult periods in its history. The airline has been cancellation of hundreds of flights and delaying flights all over the nation during many days. This has brought massive issues to the passengers, airports and even stock market. This has also cast some grave doubts in the planning and management of IndiGo as well as its flexibility to deal with sudden shifts in the aviation regulations.
The key cause of this mess is the emergence of new rules and regulations on pilot-duty and rest. The aviation regulator had earlier announced these rules to ensure that flying is made safe. It was straightforward: the pilots require additional rest, less landing during late hours, and adequate rest so that they will not become too fatigued. However, despite the fact that the airline was aware that these rules were in the offing, IndiGo is said to have not taken the appropriate preparations. It did not estimate the number of pilots it would require and the changes in its schedules. This made the airline ultimately short staffed and incapable of carrying out most of its flights.
Such inadequate planning resulted in a cascade. The cancellation of one flight caused the delaying of the other connected flight. In some cases when a pilot overstepped the duty-time limit, no other pilot was in place. This shortly became a massive disruption as dozens of flights were being canceled daily. Numerous travelers were forced to spend hours, even to sleep at airports, and various significant events, weddings, exams, and business trips were interrupted.
The regulator of the aviation has taken it very seriously. It has requested the senior management of IndiGo to clarify the reasons on how they did not handle the change of rules. An ad hoc committee has also been established to research on what went wrong. The controller has explicitly indicated that IndiGo has significant weaknesses in planning and oversight. It even said that the airline ought to have changed its flight schedule far in advance but it had not taken a responsible action.
The regulator has made a provision of a temporary lift on certain rules even though the investigation is ongoing in a bid to ensure that the airline gets back to normal operations. This is by having special permission that some aircrafts should fly at night but only on a restricted duration. The airline is also requested to provide a periodical progress report on its crew planning and crew scheduling improvement.
Indigo’s Share Price hit Hard
The stock market has equally been affected by the crisis. The parent company of IndiGo has experienced a drastic decline in its share price over a number of consecutive days.
The Indigo stock crashed on today (8 December) by nearly eight percent to approximate 4,955 without cessation of the flight delays and cancellations disheartening investor confidence. The crash was a reflection of recent news, in which the lack of proper planning regarding new rules on pilot duties resulted in hundreds of trebuktized flights and a vehement threat by the aviation authority. With the airline finding it hard to cope with crew shortages and building passenger complaints, the market responded by selling out in large volumes, destroying a significant portion of the market value of IndiGo in a few hours.
The investors are concerned since the airline has managed to lose a significant portion of its market worth within a very short period.
According to analysts, such situation illustrates the level of risk involved in leaving a big section of the market into the control of a single airline. IndiGo operates over half of the domestic flights in India and therefore any inconvenience with the airline has an impact on the whole country.
IndiGo has also reduced the number of flights it has per day to ensure a few days off to reduce the mess. It has offered free rescheduling, refund, meals and even hotel stay to some of the stuck passengers. According to the airline, it is trying its best to restore normalcy. As per the recent changes, IndiGo will not be completely recovered in the next few months since planning of the crew is a long process.
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