Sunday, March 18, 2018

IndiGo, GoAir cancellations: Hiking airfares at times of adversity is exploitation; govt must regulate prices

It is not enough to placidly accept the premise that because the DGCA has stood down the Pratt and Whitney powered A320 Neos in IndiGo and GoAir it is solid grounds for other carriers to up the ante on tickets.

Go on say it, the hike is unethical. There you feel better already.

Price gouging is an unfair aviation practice and one that is justified as a legitimate business practice because who the hell cares about the end-user...he will pay inflated figures because he has no choice in this accepted blackmail by the industry. Just pretty up the wordage and use the airline-speak buzzwords to obfuscate the issue.

The euphemism that it is a matter of supply and demand is not valid. What happens is that because there are lesser flights on a specific route there are even fewer seats available so there are obviously more contenders like there would be in a game of musical chairs.

Since the diminished capacity logically enhances the break-even point for a flight, the decision to increase the fare is really an act of blatant cheating. It is not that they are losing, it is just that they are being exploitative.

Have no doubts that if Indian MPs were not getting 34 odd tickets per person per year courtesy the taxpayer, we would have seen a legislation by now capping these deliberate spikes. Even their latest promise to hold down prices is a populist knee-jerk reaction.

There is a difference between business practices and creating a constant flux in the pricing on the one side and blatant manipulation on the other.
17/03/18 Bikram Vohra/First Post
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