Overview
- India’s aviation regulator temporarily eased new pilot rest-and-duty rules and shifted about 10% of IndiGo’s winter flights to other carriers, with the airline filing a revised schedule.
- Inadequate pilot rostering for the updated duty limits led to thousands of IndiGo cancellations, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and grounding several aircraft.
- Harsh Goenka argued that over roughly 45 years airfares became cheaper in real terms despite aviation turbine fuel and aircraft costs rising around 20 times and pilot salaries 50 times.
- Former AirAsia CFO Vijay Gopalan cited structural pressures, saying about half of airline costs are fuel, state taxes on ATF can reach 30%, and roughly 75% of spending is dollar-linked.
- Analysts warn the disruption could force a guidance cut and push IndiGo to a Q3 loss, as public reaction splits between concerns over industry viability and frustration over service failures.