In a new post on social media, billionaire Harsh Goenka has come out on the side of the aviation sector, claiming that Indian aviation has taken the brunt of inflation in the last 45 years.
The RPG group chairman’s comments come amid a brief period of skyrocketing ticket prices following the cancellation of IndiGo flights that caused massive disruption across the country.
“Before we judge Indian aviation, let’s recall: in 45 years, ATF prices have gone up 20x, aircraft costs 20x, pilot salaries 50x – yet inflation-adjusted air fares have fallen,” Goenka said in a post on X on Tuesday evening.
He compared air fares to taxis.
“We will pay.” ₹5,000 for a 100 km taxi ride, but I feel miserable when you pay the same for 2,500 km by air,” said the billionaire.
“Criticism is fair but let’s not ignore the economy that makes India affordable,” he added.
Harsh Goenka’s comments come against the backdrop of the mass cancellation of IndiGo flights, which entered its 10th day today and spiraled into one of the worst crises in the Indian airline industry.
Read also | IndiGo News LIVE: 45+ flights canceled at Goa, Chennai, Coimbatore airports
Netizens divided, online debate emerges
Harsh Goenka’s remarks resulted in a heated conversation on the internet, with some people supporting the billionaire while others pointed out the gaps in his argument.
“We expect premium service at a lower price. The economy doesn’t work like this forever,” said a pro-Goenka user.
“Flying has become democratized, but our expectations have not. This is real turbulence,” agreed another.
Read also | From passenger unit to capacity change – IndiGo cuts guidance in Q3
“This puts things into perspective. ATF, aircraft and manpower costs have skyrocketed but air fares have not gone up commensurately. The Indian aviation sector deserves more credit than it gets,” said a third user.
However, not everyone agreed with the opinion of the chairman of the RPG group.
“Wake up the hell what has been going on in the last two weeks with the massive IndiGo fiasco… it’s a complete disaster that artificially inflated ticket prices. People were stuck for hours, sometimes days, children were crying, old people were suffering and there was no real help from the airline. During this the prices went up to ₹30,000-60,000 on some routes. The guy who booked a ₹5000 tickets months ago only to have it canceled and then forced to pay ₹50,000 for a new one on the spot. Surely no one complained about paying 5,000 or 8,000 km for 2,500 km by air,” argued one netizen.
Another person pointed out that while airlines carry an average of hundreds of passengers on a single plane, a taxi can only carry one person.
Read also | IndiGo CEO again called for cancellation: “Strict instruction”.
“The secret to the affordability of air travel is economies of scale. An airplane spreads the operating costs over 150-500 passengers, while a taxi ride is a dedicated service for one party. This huge difference in cost distribution allows the Indian aviation industry to offer such an unmatched value proposition. You can of course compare a taxi to a passenger plane,” this person said.
A third netizen noted that ancillary services such as seat reservations are a major contributor to airline revenue and have doubled since 2010.
“Have you considered increasing the cost of additional services (seat preference, food, baggage, priority, etc.)? ₹10,000-20,000 crore annually to Indian airlines (estimated at 10-15% ~ ₹1.5-2 crores in total revenue in FY24). This is a 100%+ increase over 2010 levels, with a 30% CAGR for IndiGo through FY26,” the person said.
IndiGo flight cancellations still continue, albeit less, as many as 36 flights to and from the Chennai airport were canceled on Thursday.
