The aviation industry in India has seen a sharp rise in troublesome episodes across various airlines. The most concerning of which are unmet safety records and passenger dissatisfaction. IndiGo, one of the major players, has already drawn attention by compromising with the safety standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). For another time, the airline has raised bulletins by closing the most significant plane deal in history. The single purchase agreement of 500 A320 Family Aircraft has taken the count to 1330 Airbuses in IndiGo’s hangar. While this historic affair might be a significant move for some, it cannot mask the long lingering concerns of the airline’s negligence to the safety of its passengers.

The celebratory claims by IndiGo contradict its services that continue to deteriorate. By compromising passenger safety and satisfaction at 33,000 Ft., it belittles its passengers’ trust in the airline. What truly defines an airline’s value are its service quality standards above other comforts in the air. Unfortunately, IndiGo Airlines persists in making the gravest of mistakes.

Loss of trust and reputation among its passengers questions the big move of closing the Airbus deal. Some evidence shows how significant is the distrust that the customers have in this particular airline. It is needless to emphasize the importance of customer satisfaction and safety instead of only closing deals to create headlines.

Issues that IndiGo Airlines must have contemplated much before making this bulk purchase

Putting profit before safety

The deal might sound laudable from a commerce perspective, but the airline cannot escape the fact that safety must always lie before profits. The airline was sharp-witted to announce the Airbus deal in order to surpass all distrust and a bad reputation among its customers and investors. For a business like an airline, the seriousness of passengers’ safety seems to have taken a backseat. The focus is potentially shifting from passengers’ well-being to making financial gains and making headlines for cursory popularity.

Operational Scrutiny

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inspections have brought IndiGo to the red list of safety violations. India’s regulatory body has fined IndiGo with penalties and multiple advice with operational and regulator non-compliance guidelines. It is highly alarming that an airline with such a poor record in fundamental protocols is confidently closing historical deals. Frequent scrutinization and its findings must be addressed urgently, keeping in mind the gravity of responsibility that the airlines carry.

Unmet safety standards

Various incidents show the negligence of IndiGo, where two airbuses were saved from crashing into each other at 3000 ft. The accident still haunts the hundreds of passengers who boarded the two flights from Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. Other issues like technical glitches, emergency landings, and engine failures create haunting mid-air scares to the passengers for a long time. Such negligence that puts passengers at risk raises serious questions about aircraft maintenance and proper safety standards.

Overburdened staff and exhausted pilots

Criticisms are often reported concerning the pilots and staff of IndiGo. The staff has reportedly been seen misbehaving with the passengers in the air and on the ground. Hectic schedules of pilots raise serious concerns about their attentiveness during flights and questions about the compromise on critical operations during flight hours. Compromising with the passengers’ safe and secure flying experience leaves customers on a worrisome journey.

Being responsible toward passengers

As a significant player in the aviation industry, IndiGo must meet ethical standards alongside regulatory ones. The idea to popularize and boast about the plane deal instead of adequately addressing the loopholes in the system reflects the shallow responsibility towards their customers. Undermining customers’ complaints and concerns, IndiGo has compromised with its moral obligation to prioritize customer service. A business needs revenue, publicity, and goodwill to function, but that can be maintained with visible acts of service to its customers.

IndiGo Balancing Un-safe Practices and Historic Deals

IndiGo Airlines has been cited as the most unsafe airline in India by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, Road, Shipping, and Aviation. The thought that an airline with such a derogatory remark and record conveniently closed a historical deal without coming into question. With this, several questions arise that can start a debate.

Can an airline with a questionable safety record expand their businesses without checks?

Should IndiGo consider such big deals despite struggling to maintain existing airbuses?

These are only two of the many concerns that move around the decision made by IndiGo. The broad umbrella of issues revolves around all the major spheres that cannot be taken leniently. Instances of misbehavior with passengers on board have been a regular practice. Insensitivity towards especially abled adolescents is another such incident of misbehavior by the staff. The seriousness of the incident was such that a fact-finding team was set up to investigate the matter.

IndiGo has regularly not followed the rules and regulations set by the DGCA. The extra baggage and charges levied upon every kilogram of luggage is 8-10 times more than the charges mentioned in the rules. Incidents reported also include ignorant behaviors of the staff providing food to its passengers and prioritizing the corporate clients first. Being mentioned as the “worst” airline by a parliamentary committee is enough to make them take concerns seriously. Noticeably, the whole ambit of issues circles the ethical and moral values that IndiGo seems to be in a dearth of!

The buzz created by the airline attempts to divert the attention from its tarnished repute. The viewpoint has raised eyebrows with its alarming track record. The dearth of transparency and seriousness in amending its loopholes reveals that the company is certainly not about its customers. It is genuine for a business to think about expansion and profit but not at the cost of the responsibility of lives that this one holds.

Although, the thought behind this move seems to be two-edged. One edge that aims to dignify the airline that has been long lost since the statement passed by a parliamentary committee on regulatory standards, citing IndiGo as the most unsafe airline in India. The other edge of the same sword hits a sharp mark, indicating its dominating status in the industry. It would have been laudable if the airlines considered its customers with the exact extent of seriousness.

The stakeholder’s and investor‘s nod to the deal brings them into question. As a significant player in the industry, it’s time that IndiGo must reflect on its values and ethics that it should be carrying along. Prioritizing ethical standards would ensure the company’s and its passengers’ safe future. Conversely, the government must consider regular monitoring across the aviation industry to ensure “airworthy” planes.

IndiGo might be taking pride in its most significant deal buzz, but it unquestionably stands at the crossroads where business triumph intersects with many safety concerns. While the airline may sprawl in the light of its exceptional business skills, it is difficult to evade the eye, focusing on its negligence. IndiGo needs to focus on severe passenger concerns about safety. To bring back the lost trust, IndiGo must address all the issues related to pilots, ethics, overburdened staff, maintenance of airbuses and machinery, and regular training programs.

It’s high time that the airline must realize that neglecting customers’ concerns and complaints will not fetch them any goodwill, no matter what historic business deals they close. For a business to rise, the biggest deal one can close is between its customers and its services. It is essential for IndiGo, stakeholders and the regulating bodies to acknowledge and set right what was neglected until now.