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The Competition Commission of India has opened a probe into IndiGo’s recent wave of flight cancellations across multiple routes, examining whether the airline’s dominant market position contributed to the disruptions and potential violations of competition norms.
DGCA also investigating operational and safety concerns.
New Delhi: India's competition regulator, the Competition Commission of India, has announced it will investigate complaints regarding the recent spate of flight cancellations by IndiGo. The airline, which holds over 65 per cent of the domestic market, faced widespread disruption starting December 2, affecting thousands of passengers. In its statement, the CCI said it had taken cognisance of the complaints and decided to proceed under the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002. The move signals heightened scrutiny on whether IndiGo’s dominant position may have influenced the disruptions.
The cancellations caused by IndiGo disrupted travel plans nationwide, with passengers facing delays, last-minute rebookings, and significant uncertainty. Hundreds of flights were affected over multiple routes, highlighting vulnerabilities in the airline’s operational planning. The scale of the cancellations has raised concerns in some quarters about the potential impact of a single airline’s market dominance on overall competition and passenger welfare in India’s aviation sector.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has already launched its own inquiry into IndiGo’s flight disruptions. The aviation regulator has increased oversight of the airline’s operations to ensure compliance with safety and service norms. The dual scrutiny, from both DGCA and CCI, underscores the seriousness of the incident and reflects concerns over operational resilience as well as competitive fairness in India’s domestic aviation market.
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While the DGCA probe addresses operational and safety aspects, the CCI’s investigation is specifically looking into competition-related concerns. The regulator will examine whether IndiGo’s dominant market position has been leveraged in ways that may contravene the Competition Act, 2002. The inquiry reflects a growing focus on how market concentration among a few major players can affect service reliability, pricing, and consumer choice in the aviation sector.
In response to the disruptions, IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers assured employees that operations have stabilised. He noted that the airline had overcome the most challenging period and was now focused on building resilience, reviewing root causes, and implementing measures to prevent similar disruptions in the future. Elbers credited the airline’s pilots, cabin crew, airport teams, operations control, and customer service staff for restoring the network to approximately 2,200 flights per day.
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The incident has broader implications for India’s aviation market. With a few airlines controlling a large share of domestic traffic, disruptions at a dominant carrier can have ripple effects across the sector. The CCI investigation may set precedents regarding accountability for market leaders and could influence how airlines manage operations and customer communications in future crises.
