Congress leader P Chidambaram
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: A day after the government ordered a cap on airfares following IndiGo flight disruptions, former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday called for continuing the price containment till the duopoly in the civil aviation sector exists.
He also blamed the government for the IndiGo fiasco, claiming that it was "clueless and helpless".
The crisis-struck IndiGo has around 65-70 per cent market share while Air India has cornered another 25 per cent of the market. In the past few days, IndiGo cancelled a large number of flights as it could not operate services owing to new norms for fatigue management of pilots.
Chidambaram said he was "glad" that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has "woken up at last" and capped the economy class fares. On Saturday, the Ministry had issued the orders, as airlines jacked up prices that hit the ceiling.
"As long the duopoly in the airline sector remains, caps on Economy Class fares must remain in force. Absent robust competition, the only way to protect public interest is price containment. The overwhelming majority of the passengers must be protected," he said on 'X'.
In a separate post, he said the "meltdown" of Indigo operations and the chaos in airports throughout the country point to a "massive failure" of the airline management, the Ministry, Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the whole government.
"The new (Flight Duty Time Limitations) Rules were notified in January 2024. Yet, over the past 23 months the government failed to guide the airline to adapt its operations to the new Rules. The MoCA and DGCA are squarely responsible. When the crisis started and escalated, the government was clueless and helpless, and eventually capitulated," he added.