Flighty governance: IndiGo fiasco reflects collective systemic failures

This deficiency, in turn, raises questions about the role of the board, staffed by luminaries from business and industry

The crisis at IndiGo represents the kind of perfect storm that has been the cause of major crises in the corporate sector — from Kingfisher Airlines to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services. It involves collective failure at multiple levels — executive management, board, as well as the sector regulator — and highlights endemic weaknesses in Indian corporate governance. The airline, which operated over 2,300 flights per day to 140 destinations at its peak, built its formidable lead and delivered profitability in an industry riddled with burnouts, principally on account of its acute attention to on-time performance and costs.