Mumbai: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has officially initiated an inquiry into IndiGo, following the massive operational crisis that saw over 4,500 flights cancelled earlier this month. It is examining whether the airline abused its dominant market position during the period of widespread disruption.
The fair-trade regulator’s move comes after several complaints were filed against the airline, alleging unfair pricing and consumer harm. The CCI’s initial assessment focuses on whether IndiGo’s conduct, particularly the sharp surge in airfares on certain routes while its own capacity was crippled, constitutes an abuse of dominance under the Competition Act, 2002.
The IndiGo crisis, which peaked in the first week of December, was primarily attributed to the airline’s struggle to comply with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) for pilots. These rules, aimed at reducing pilot fatigue, require longer rest periods and more stringent scheduling – a shift for which IndiGo was reportedly under-prepared despite a long transition period.
One of the complaints to CCI was filed by Safety Matters Foundation’s Amit Singh on December 11. It accused IndiGo for abuse of dominant position and unfair trade practices in domestic scheduled air passenger transport and cadet pilot training programmes. The complaint alleged that despite chronic crew shortages and clear constraints under the FDTL rules, the airline continued to publish optimistic schedules and aggressively sold tickets.
The complaint also urged CCI to direct the DGCA to conduct a detailed investigation into IndiGo’s scheduling, staffing and ticket-sale practices. It had also urged an investigation into the structure, pricing, contractual terms and competitive effects of IndiGo-linked cadet pilot programmes and their associated training partners.
As of Thursday, IndiGo continues stabilised operations with over 2,200 flights, according to the revised schedule, which was curtailed by 10% by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). The airline stated that it was operating to all its 138 destinations and standard on-time performance, serving over 3.5 lakh customers daily.
In an internal video message to employees, IndiGo’s CEO Pieter Elbers announced a three-staged plan of resilience, root-cause analysis and rebuilding to move the airline forward. He stated that the airline’s top management will travel across its network to meet employees and discuss the challenges faced by them.
"Through the storm, we are finding our wings again. The worst is behind us. We continue to serve India with the same focus that built this very company- reliability, accessibility, discipline and customer service,” said Elbers, who also praised the airline’s employees for their dedication.
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