New Delhi. A new phase of crisis is looming on Indigo airline. After more than 5,000 flights were canceled in the beginning of December and thousands of passengers were stranded at the airport, the Competition Commission of India is now considering starting an antitrust investigation on the airline. According to sources, this investigation could be to find out whether IndiGo misused its market dominance and hindered services for passengers or imposed unfair conditions on them.
IndiGo controls about 65 percent of the country’s domestic airline market. The airline faced severe crew shortage due to its failure to properly implement the new rest rules for pilots. The company needed 2422 captains but had only 2357, leading to the cancellation of more than 5000 flights in the first weeks of December. DGCA had sent a show-cause notice to CEO Peter Albers and COO Isidre Porqueras, seeking a reply within 24 hours. However, citing its large network, IndiGo has asked for 15 days time to respond.
Sources said the CCI is keeping an eye on the matter and will soon decide whether to initiate an investigation or not. If the preliminary investigation finds that the company is violating Section 4, a full investigation may be ordered. This is not the first time that IndiGo has come under antitrust scrutiny. Two cases were also registered in 2015 and 2016, one related to imposing unfair conditions on passengers and the other related to Air India’s complaint, but both were dismissed by the CCI.