Top investor Vijay Kedia slammed IndiGo (NS:INGL) for frequent delays, bad customer service and ill-mannered ground staff on Sunday as the low-cost carrier suffered a massive outage that led to flight disruptions and halts in ground services across the nation on Saturday. Let not arrogance lead to your downfall, Kedia said in a post on X.
"Unless it improves, IndiGo will be its own worst enemy," he said.
Technical snag on Sunday stranded hundreds of air travelers across airports due to failure to board IndiGo flights or book tickets and caused huge delays for them.
As a shareholder and frequent flyer, I think it is high time to raise my concern about the recent performance of Indigo. Earlier, it used to be my first choice. Now it is my last. Given an alternative, most passengers would choose you only as the last resort," the ace investor posted.
Kedia told the Indigo management that two key issues had been disturbing passengers — constant delays and rude staff, "especially at the check-in counters, where staff behavior is often rude."
"People deserve better, and your team's behavior goes directly to the brand's reputation," Kedia was quoted to say.
The technical glitch left many passengers with little option but to flood social media with complaints.
"It's great to invest in new aircraft but do improve the ground services (at Bangalore T1 for the last one hour). More counters are needed; it is disturbing to see the elderly suffer. @DGCAIndia please take notice," said an affected flier.
IndiGo currently holds a market share of around 62 per cent, with the competition growing.
"Air India is catching up, several struggling airlines are reviving, and new entrants are on the way. If these issues are not addressed, people will shift to other options," he said.
Domestic passenger air traffic in the country jumped 6% (year-on-year) to 13.1 million in August. Indigo continued to dominate the domestic space, increasing its market share by 40 bps to 62.4%.
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