Air India crash aftermath: What is the life of an air passenger in India worth?

In the last 10 years, I haven’t taken a single flight on a particular airline in India. It’s on my personal blacklist – one that I won’t name for obvious reasons, but which has routinely been in the news for financial distress for over a decade. It often doesn’t pay its employees, including pilots, for months. 

I’d rather walk than fly on it, and my immediate family members are banned from travelling on it too, even if an employer is booking the trip. No means no. I might sound paranoid, but this is a decision I stand by despite the financial costs. 

Now, this airline is often the cheapest on many sectors. But as a passenger, I should be guaranteed the same safety regardless of ticket cost. It is my steadfast opinion that even though the aviation regulator has placed this airline under enhanced scrutiny multiple times, I have never felt reassured.

Millions of passengers fly every year in India – the fastest-growing aviation market in the world – simply because every other competing mode of transport, like road or rail, is broken. And how else would you go abroad, if not on a flight? It’s a necessity. And yet air passengers in India are the most unfortunate lot. We deal with airports unconnected by public transport, overcrowded terminals, bizarre security routines not up to global standards, hostage-like pricing for airport food and drink, the highest aviation taxes,, and a forced duopoly of market-share dominating airlines that feels like a price-gouging cartel.

Among these flying unfortunates, I’m the one percent who belongs to a bunch of freaks called #AvGeeks, or aviation geeks. I love aeroplanes and aviation, which is why I have more knowledge on both than the average aam aadmi, bless their hearts. My life is a daily rant, trying to make sense of the aviation chaos while still looking to the future with optimism. 

But June 12, 2025 changed it all. I’m a firm believer that aviation is statistically the safest it has ever been. But every time I board an aircraft, I say a silent thank you to every single person who keeps flying as safe as it is – because holes in cheese can line up. They did for Air India AI171. We all watched in horror as it became a ball of fire on video in Ahmedabad.

My wife and I are frequent fliers, and we’re very honest in communicating our worst fears to each other. We silently held hands in the aftermath of the crash, watching the grotesqueness unfold – the privacy of crash victims being violated, a haphazard first response, VIPs lining up for photo-ops in the wreckage, crucial evidence possibly tampered with by unrestricted crowds, an airline trying its best ‘compassionate PR management’, victims’ kin feeling helpless, a hounding TV media, and the inevitable AI-manufactured video thrown it to confuse everyone.

This is the age of social media. Various nefarious actors have seized the opportunity to spread all kinds of conspiracies and theories. Ministers and flunkies are further fuelling speculation with random statements about sabotage and whataboutery.

Is there anyone calmly reassuring us that the accident airline is safe to fly? That a specific aircraft type is safe to fly? That the general aviation ecosystem is doing a safety refresher? Nope. Nothing. 

An aviation regulator’s principal reason for existence is to set safety standards and reassure the flying public. Sorry DGCA, you have failed miserably. So far, there has been one anodyne printed statement in the aftermath of the crash, with no words of reassurance for passengers. Is it too much to ask that a human face comes on camera and tells us that “all is well”?

Meanwhile, we passengers are now left with only one choice – an airline that is flying over 65 percent of India’s air passengers. There isn’t an aviation country in the world that is as leveraged on one airline as India is right now. This is a desperate wake-up call.

The fixes are easy and have been lying pending for years. First, the DGCA, the country’s aviation regulator, has been let wither through underfunding and understaffing. While the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the last decade is rightly promoting aviation as a blockbuster sector, it has so far shown zero interest in having a robust regulator. 

It is time they are de-linked. We need an independent aviation regulator that is not a puppet of the civil aviation ministry, and an Air Accident Investigation Board that is legally independent of both the regulator and the ministry. This is not a tough ask. This will ensure post-accident response, information dissemination, and that investigations follow International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines – to the letter and spirit.

The ministry, meanwhile, should focus on reworking aviation policy to acknowledge that financial distress in scheduled commercial airlines is a direct safety concern. Bankrupt airlines simply must not fly. There is ample scope for upgrading a vague ‘passenger rights charter’ into a fully enforceable law for passenger rights.

There is also room for an independent passenger-run non-profit body representing passenger’s rights, that is recognised by the ministry and that works towards continuous evolution in this domain. The airport regulator needs to be given teeth to prioritise passenger interests and convenience alongside safety.

Finally, there is the glaring lacunae in the compensation for victims of domestic air crashes. It is not on par with international flights. Currently, death compensation for domestic passengers is capped at Rs 20 lakh, while international compensation follows the Montreal Convention. Is the life of a domestic air passenger worth less? Answer this question now.

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