The reason behind the unprecedented cancellations of IndiGo flights is the monopoly model of the Government of India, said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday as airports across the country reported around a total of 400 cancellations by the airline. The country’s largest air carrier is seeing drastic reduction in operations due to multiple reasons like crew shortage and technical reasons.
Sharing his views on the development, Rahul Gandhi said the Indians are paying the price of the chaos in “delays, cancellations and helplessness”.
He took to X, quoting his editorial of Nov 6, 2024, which he had captioned “Choose your India: Play-Fair or Monopoly? Jobs or Oligarchies? Competence or Connections? Innovation or Intimidation? Wealth for many or the few? I write on why a New Deal for Business isn’t just an option. It is India’s future.”
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“IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this Govt’s monopoly model. Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price – in delays, cancellations and helplessness,” he now said in the post.
“India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies,” Gandhi added.
IndiGo cancels over 900 flights
Combined Thursday and Friday so far, the airline has cancelled around 900 flights across multiple airports leaving passengers angry and clueless. On Thursday, a total of 550 flights were cancelled and on Friday, over 400 were grounded.
The fiasco has spread to almost all the small and big airports including Delhi’s IGI airport, Mumbai airport, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Raipur, Goa and Ahmedabad among others.
People who were going to enjoy Kashmir’s cold weather, are stranded at the airport for hours after Indigo flights from Ahmedabad to Kashmir and Varanasi faced repeated schedule changes and cancellations at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport.
IndiGo has acknowledged that the flight disruptions happening for the past few days are primarily due to misjudgment and planning gaps in implementing the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.
Hence, the airline also informed the DGCA that there will be more cancellations till December 8 and from that day, there will also be a reduction in services.
Parliament to discuss the Indigo mess?
The issue is likely to be taken up by the opposition parties in the Parliament as well as the winter session is underway. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has moved an adjournment motion to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, reacting to this, TMC leader Kirti Azad said that the airlines loot people. “They charge money for seats, food, and everything. They raise their fares during festivals. They have earned a lot, and now it is their fault that these delays and cancellations are happening. But they will make up for their losses with the hard-earned money of common people,” he said.