The World’s third-largest Aviation market in India brought to a standstill

A crisis at India’s largest carrier, IndiGo, revealed a deeper issue in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, where key sectors are nearly monopolized.

For more than two weeks, the Indian aviation sector has been in crisis after more than 2,700 flights of Indigo, the country’s second largest airline, were canceled due to a pilot shortage and having to meet new roster guidelines, causing deep structural vulnerabilities.

In the first week of December, what was happening at India’s airports resembled a humanitarian crisis more than a routine airline disruption.

Thousands of passengers were sleeping on cold floors, queues were curling around terminals, and departure boards lit up with an unending stream of cancellations. 

What began as an operational breakdown at IndiGo has exposed just how fragile the country’s aviation system becomes when a single dominant airline stumbles.

The crisis was sparked by a pilot shortage at IndiGo after the airline failed to adequately prepare for stricter government‑mandated rest and duty rules, which took full effect this year.

Regulators have now granted IndiGo temporary exemptions from some of the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms to ease the pressure, but operations are yet to completely return to normal.

The immediate cause of the crisis was a new set of norms related to the FDTL rules, which further restricted flying hours and late flights.

The new rules were announced by the Indian government last year with the aim of improve flight hours for pilots at Indian air carriers. But when the November 1 deadline rolled around, IndiGo Airlines was not prepared, as reported by insiders.

It was initially forced to postpone and then cancel flights due to insufficient flight personnel. IndiGo did not factor in sufficient captains, particularly for A320 aircraft.

Therefore, when the new rules kicked in, even a small delay became a snowball of cancellations in hundreds, an Indigo pilot from India spoke to RT on the condition of anonymity.

We were always on standby, our schedules kept on changing at the last minute, and there was no clarity on the new rules being implemented. This was a management crisis, said another Indigo crew member.

Aviation experts believe Indigo was responsible for a lack of preparation for the new regulations.

Despite the two-year preparatory window before full FDTL implementation, the airline inexplicably adopted a hiring freeze, entered non-poaching arrangements, maintained a pilot pay freeze through cartel-like behavior, and demonstrated other short-sighted planning practices.

Private carriers dominate India’s domestic aviation market. IndiGo accounts for about 65% of domestic passenger traffic.

It is followed by the Air India Group, which includes the former national carrier Air India (privatized under the Tata Group in 2022) and Air India Express, with a combines market share of around 27%.

Despite government initiatives to expand airports and streamline operational regulations, few smaller private carriers have managed to thrive.

Higher taxes, intense competition, and supply chain disruptions have led to the bankruptcy of airlines such as Kingfisher, Jet Airways, and Go First in recent years.

This has effectively created a duopoly, with IndiGo and the Tata-owned Air India Group controlling most capacity. According to experts, the crisis has underlined how such dominance has created the systemic risk of over-dependence.

India’s aviation market has grown rapidly. While only a fraction of the country’s 1.4 billion population fly each year, rising incomes, better connectivity, and growing middle-class mobility have steadily expanded the pool of air travelers.

In 2024, domestic airlines carried about 161.3 million passengers, a clear sign of rising demand.

Ten years ago, domestic capacity was spread more evenly across multiple carriers; since then, domestic seats have almost doubled, but consolidation has left IndiGo and the Air India group controlling roughly 90% or even more of the market.

IndiGo alone carried nearly 100 million domestic passengers in 2024.

Travel demand tends to surge around festive and holiday seasons in December when people travel for vacations, family visits, and weddings.

Passengers who missed flights in the current crisis say that policymakers need to pause and think about the need for balance and fairness in Indian aviation.

Let’s hope the next time a departure board turns red, it is not for the same arrogant reasons when a system built on one giant carrier decides to do so.

RT. com / ABC Flash Point Aviation News 2025.