The Indigo Fiasco

The Airports in India turned into chaos as Indigo , the widely travelled airline had to cancel many of its flights due to a new rule by the DGCA. Many commuters were stranded. Businesses had to face lose, students missed their exams as the flights were grounded. Its been 16 years since Indigo started its operations. In these years we saw the meteoric rise of this airline and it single handedly dominated the landscape of Indian civil aviation. The competitors were somehow out of the way and it was in a way a monopoly of the market. Competition in business gives customers good service, better fares and multiple options. When the business is concentrated in one hand, when it fails, the entire ecosystem crumbles and many are affected. What we see in the past some years is an acute concentration of power and money in selected individuals and businesses which in turn will cause oligarchy to prevail.

When any thing or system rises up without any checks, it becomes a snare and as operations deteriorate many lives are affected. Thus its imperative that the leadership of an organisation gives importance to ethos and values and when growth happens, erect adequate systems of checks and balances. We need to remain grounded and humble in our outlook even in times of exponential growth. We should love growth but its even important to check the health! When the downfall happens, its hard to restore trust and confidence.