In India, over three decades, the promoters of private airlines have been publicly and brutally murdered, charged with fraud and money laundering, and fled the country as economic fugitives. These factors may explain the reasons for the demise of some of the most successful and dominant aviation firms. Even so, critics assign business and operational reasons each time an airline faces an existential crisis. There are analysts who argue that the sector is capital-intensive, and a tough one to operate in, with an extremely high failure rate.
As IndiGo loses its credibility and reputation, with delays and cancellation of thousands of flights, the talks about the challenging business aspects behind the repeated failures of the so-called best airlines in India since the 1990s are back in the forefront. High costs, regular and unexpected fluctuations in recurring expenses, and high-voltage regulatory and policy changes inculcates an innate propensity to incur massive losses. But these are more like myths. Across the world, like most sectors, the aviation industry witnesses several failures, and repeated successes. Many survive for decades.