The “too big to fail” airline in India is currently experiencing its worst crisis to date. After failing to prepare for more stringent Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) regulations for pilots, IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights in a matter of days during the first week of December 2025. This led to chaos at airports, outrage on social media, and a government intervention that temporarily reversed the new fatigue regulations. This incident has shown how reliant India’s aviation sector has become on a single low-cost carrier and how risky it is when that carrier falters, with IndiGo currently holding about 65% of the country’s domestic market.

It is crucial to understand how IndiGo became dominant and how the broader policy environment particularly between 2004 and 2014 gradually cleared the c

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