Congress hits back at govt over Indigo flight cancellations, Rahul says govt monopoly model responsible for it

130

New Delhi: As India’s budget carrier IndiGo cancelled over 600 flights in three days in a row, Congress on Friday came down heavily on the central government saying this fiasco is the cost of monopoly model and ordinary Indians are to pay the price.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi slammed the Centre over the “utter chaos” in the country’s aviation sector caused by flight cancellations and disruptions.

In a post on X, the Lok Sabha Opposition Leader said, “IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this government’s monopoly model.”

“Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price – in delays, cancellations and helplessness. India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies,” he said.

Even Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal slammed the government and said that government is sleeping at the wheel while a duopoly established a deadly chokehold on aviation sector.

In a post on X, hitting back at the government, the Congress Lok Sabha MP said that 550+ IndiGo flights cancelled in a single day is a clear consequence of the “Government sleeping at the wheel” while a duopoly established a deadly chokehold on India’s aviation sector.

“The Modi Government has reduced a once-competitive industry to two players, prioritising corporate greed over passengers’ interests,” he alleged.

Highlighting the plight of passengers, Venugopal said that lakhs of passengers are left helpless at airports for over 8 hours, only to be told their flights are cancelled.

“What is the mechanism that Ministry of Civil Aviation has set up to ensure passengers get full refunds for these cancelled flights? How are they ensuring Indigo is looking after passengers’ well-being?” Venugopal questioned.

“From the collapse of Jet Airways and Go First to Air India’s monopoly merger – every move that has contributed to this disastrous outcome has happened under their watch,” the Congress leader alleged.

He asserted that as a result, “ordinary passengers in need of urgent travel can no longer afford plane tickets, a situation of zero accountability for either the airlines or the MoCA, and now a nationwide shutdown of flights”.

“This is not a routine operational hiccup, it is a Government-approved systemic failure that will happen again and again unless drastic measures are undertaken immediately,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari raised the issue in the Upper House of Parliament.

During zero hour, Tiwari urged Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to brief Parliament, adding that many MPs may need to travel back to their hometowns over the weekend when there is no sitting.

The Congress leader said, ” I am not raising a question that would cause any inconvenience to anybody, as this relates to the members of the House. At least than 500 IndiGo flights were cancelled yesterday, and there were cancellations even the day before. Today is Friday, and many members would like to travel. People have their schedules and will return on Sunday or Monday. This has happened due to the monopoly of a single airline.”

“The minister concerned, who made the rules that caused this problem, should inform the House when the problem will be resolved and whether the government is taking any steps” Tiwari added.

It is worth to mention that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) withdrew the new weekly roster norm about weekly rest for pilots on Friday, which impacted IndiGo’s operations largely. Meanwhile, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers in a video statement apologised to the passengers for the cancellations and projected a full return to normal operations only between 10-15 December.

The central government also asserted that flight schedules should stabilise by Saturday with complete normalcy likely by Monday.