Last week, the country's favourite low-cost, no-frills, yes-we'll-charge-for-everything carrier suddenly realised that its pilots and crew are, as described by the aviation regulator, human beings who need sleep. The DGCA reminded IndiGo of a rule it had graciously given them 18 months to follow: pilots need proper rest. IndiGo's response was a shrug and a few press releases.

And just like that, thousands of flights cancelled, lakhs of passengers stranded . An unprecedented chaos ensued at every airport. India's Too Big to Fail airline was too big to leave the ground.

Last week wasn't just about cancelled flights. It was the moment the pressure cooker finally whistled after 15 years of silent boiling. Every Indian middle-class traveller has an IndiGo wound that hasn't healed.

Budget

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