If it were not for the December crisis, which resulted in the cancellation of 4,500 flights and, reportedly, cost the airline Rs 2,000 crore, Peter Elbers might have continued to remain IndiGo's CEO. The costly lapse, preceded by a growing number of complaints about poor service, cabin crew’s high-handedness, mid-air near misses, a litany of grievances from pilots, and whistle-blowers’ revelations, appeared to be warning signs that the airline’s management chose to ignore, reinforcing the perception that the confidence of being the country’s largest airline had hardened into arrogance.
The fact that all these issues, which were constantly ignored, came to roost in December last year, when the airline missed the deadline for implementing the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) mandated by the regulator, the DGCA, to manage pilot fatigue and prevent safety incidents, clearly shows that the airline tried to push its luck too far this time, hoping that the regulator would ignore its escapades once again. The latest lapse proved too serious to ignore, with the Civil Aviation Minister of State, Ram Mohan Naidu, demanding accountability and threatening strict action, including holding the top management accountable for passengers being held to ransom. A four-member DGCA committee later flagged over-optimisation of operations, weak software systems, inadequate regulatory preparedness and “shortcomings in management oversight” as the primary causes.
The pressure was mounting on IndiGo’s management, with the DGCA itself setting an example by firing four flight operations inspectors for lapses in monitoring the airline. IndiGo, on its part, relieved its senior vice president heading the operations control centre (OCC) of his role, but that was not enough. Nearly three months after the crisis, the IndiGo CEO eventually resigned, citing personal reasons and asking that his notice period be waived in his letter. This can be construed as symbolic as much as substantive. Removing the OCC head, warning senior managers, and pushing out the CEO gives the appearance of accountability.
However, the real test will be whether, a year from now, IndiGo has learnt its lessons and carried out substantial changes, with a renewed focus on systems and buffers rather than on squeezing the last ASK out of each aircraft and crew roster. The airline must harden its planning tools, diversify decision-making beyond a small inner circle, and build enough redundancy into its fleet, crew, and IT systems to absorb shocks without collapsing its schedule. But there are larger issues that the airline needs to address. The December crisis did not happen overnight but was the result of a series of lapses carried out with complete impunity. A meltdown that strands tens of thousands of passengers and triggers a regulatory crackdown is not an acceptable cost of ambition. The board would do well to remember that even some of the biggest brands with near-impenetrable market share have vanished when they failed to listen to their customers.
