Editorial: Mismanaging aviation monopoly
By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation The aviation fiasco that led to the near collapse of a leading and successful private sector airline in India is being blamed on the federal Ministry of Aviation’s FDTL instructions. Halting operations of an entire fleet because the airline had not heeded to directives of limiting pilots’ fatigue bespeaks of a lot of rough edges inside the corrosive industry itself. The directive sought to protect the interests of overworked pilots and welfare of the passenger whose safety would be compromised if overworked fatigued pilots were being asked to overwork that too in unfair pay scales. The Ministry had given the directive with an 18 months window to implement changes…. Meaning, more pilots ought to have been recruited by 1.11.25. Why didn’t Indigo recruit more pilots in this period? Why did the DGCA not hold Indigo accountable by October 2025 itself? This is the one largest question that begs an open, scrutinisable answer....