The set of directives issued by the ministry of civil aviation through DGCA to airlines, among them the order to offer at least 60% of seats on a flight without any extra charge to passengers checking in online and to seat fliers with the same PNR together, should help the cause of passenger rights in the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world.
Given that the Indian civil aviation space is a near duopoly — with IndiGo and Air India
The set of directives issued by the ministry of civil aviation through DGCA to airlines, among them the order to offer at least 60% of seats on a flight without any extra charge to passengers checking in online and to seat fliers with the same PNR together, should help the cause of passenger rights in the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world.
Given that the Indian civil aviation space is a near duopoly — with IndiGo and Air India accounting for the bulk of the market — such regulatory intervention also signals an attempt to discipline the key players that are setting the tone for the others. For instance, all airlines now charge for seat preference, a practice that was unheard of in the Indian market till a little over a decade ago. For long, airlines have argued that basic fares are kept low by having an opt-in — those checking in online can choose not to select seats in advance and instead be assigned these, quite like those checking in at the airport — and making seat preference a revenue stream. However, in practice, there has always been significant arbitrariness here, and the practice has become an easy revenue stream for airlines. What began as a charge for a few seats in the front of the aircraft now covers anywhere between 85-95% of the seats on a flight. Regulators elsewhere, too, are clamping down on such practices through various routes — from mandating upfront disclosure of the full cost in the ticket price to rules on seating young children along with accompanying adults.
So, the intervention by the ministry comes as a welcome relief for fliers (the daily average is 500,000 domestic passengers). Airlines have also been told to comply with passenger rights, especially in cases of delays, cancellations and denied boarding, which came under the scanner during the mass cancellations in IndiGo flights in November last year. Similarly, directives that sports equipment and musical instruments must be transported in a passenger-friendly manner, clear policies for carrying pets, and display of passenger rights on airline websites, mobile apps, booking platforms and at airport counters, including in regional languages, should ease air travel. Passenger convenience and rights have to be privileged in what is essentially a service.
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