Entertainment
Too big to fail? IndiGo crisis exposes risks in Indian aviation
A wave of flight cancellations by IndiGo, India’s largest airline, sparked a week of chaos and grounded tens of thousands of passengers, laying bare the risks of having a duopoly-like situation in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.
For years, IndiGo with a 65% domestic market share has helped Indians realise their dreams of flying — an aspiration shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who once said those “in slippers should also be seen in aircraft”.
The airline became the poster child of the nation’s aviation boom in recent years, with its promise of low fares and on-time performance.
But last week changed it all: IndiGo cancelled at least 2,000 flights because of a shortage of pilots after it failed to plan adequately for new rules limiting how many hours they work. That upended vacation plans, weddings and flooded social media with photos and videos of luggage piling up at terminals — scenes never witnessed in India’s aviation history.
IndiGo’s woes come at a critical time for the airline and the industry. Rival Air India, which commands a 27% market share and was owned by the government until 2022, has for years faced complaints of an ageing fleet and poor service, and is battling tighter scrutiny since a June crash killed 260 people.
IndiGo has said it hopes to return to normalcy in the coming days, but its troubles have drawn warnings from both politicians and aviation experts. The crisis has raised concerns about the risks of over reliance on a single carrier and whether the airline is really too big to fail.
The government stepped in swiftly, relaxing rules on pilot fatigue management to ease the disruptions. IndiGo has repeatedly apologised but has not disclosed financial losses from the crisis.
“IndiGo’s size has grown to the point where operational setbacks pose systemic risk,” said Harsh Vardhan, chairman of Starair Consulting.
If IndiGo or Air India get into “trouble, there will be mayhem in Indian aviation … the government needs to reduce jet fuel taxes and encourage more competition,” he added.
IndiGo’s dominance in India
Airline duopolies exist in a few countries, such as Australia and Canada. Even China, the world’s second most-populous nation, has three state-owned carriers, and several private ones.
India’s aviation market is not a duopoly in the strictest sense but analysts say that 92% market share of IndiGo and Air India – including its low-cost Air India Express – means it is a duopoly-like situation and creates vulnerabilities.
On many routes connecting smaller towns, IndiGo holds a monopoly.
“A country cannot grow robustly with duopolies, or effective monopolies, in any sector,” G.R. Gopinath, founder of now-defunct low-cost airline Air Deccan, wrote in a weekend editorial in the Economic Times newspaper.
Despite government efforts to expand airports and simplify operations rules, few carriers have succeeded. High taxes, fierce competition and supply-chain snags have driven airlines like Kingfisher, Jet Airways and Go First into bankruptcy in recent years.
IndiGo did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. On Sunday, it said it was on track to operate more than 1,650 flights and expressed confidence that operations would stabilise by Wednesday.
Rapid rise of IndiGo
Modi spoke of his ambitions for India’s aviation sector at the global airlines conference in New Delhi this year, but that vision mostly depends on IndiGo and Air India’s success.
About 174 million passengers travelled from and within India by air in 2024, 10% more than a year ago, International Air Transport Association data shows.
Founded in 2006 by Indian businessmen Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, IndiGo has grown rapidly. It now has a fleet of more than 400 aircraft, mostly Airbus A320s, and serves close to 380,000 customers a day through its more than 2,000 daily flights.
The airline is led by CEO Pieter Elbers, former chief of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
“This seems to be the lowest point in the company’s history. Disruptions are hurting the brand image,” said an IndiGo executive, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
With $9 billion in revenues and $807 million in profits last fiscal year, IndiGo dominates India’s aviation sector. It will likely face a hit to its annual revenue due to disruptions — with customer refunds as of Sunday already touching $68 million, and set to rise.
But the bigger hit will be to its reputation, built over years by making punctuality a key selling point.
An IndiGo commercial on YouTube from 2011 had pilots and other staff singing in unison: “Every time we fly, we will ensure you will land on time.”
The carrier had an average on-time performance of 91.4% as recently as July – the best among Indian airlines at six major airports. However, on Friday, that figure plunged to just 3.7%.
The crisis is reminiscent of Southwest Airlines’ holiday season meltdown in 2022, which led to cancellation of 16,900 flights and stranded over 2 million passengers. Those disruptions cost the U.S. carrier at least $400 million in revenue.
Entertainment
Fans slam Anne Hathaway over Met Gala snap with Blake Lively
Anne Hathaway is facing a wave of online backlash after being pictured cosying up to Blake Lively at the 2026 Met Gala.
The controversy erupted after a photo, posted by Variety on Tuesday morning, showed Lively with her arm around a smiling Hathaway inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Fans were quick to scold the Devil Wears Prada star for the association, particularly as Lively’s bombshell appearance came just hours after she settled a highly divisive and explosive legal battle with her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.
The reaction on social media has been swift and brutal, with many fans expressing deep disappointment in Hathaway.
One X user urged the actress to get away from Lively before she was sued, while others questioned why Hathaway would risk her hard-won public popularity by posing with someone many have labelled a “bully”.
The anger has even spilled over into calls for a boycott of Hathaway’s latest film, The Devil Wears Prada 2, with some disgruntled viewers claiming she has ruined the movie’s release by associating with Lively.
Lively’s presence at the star-studded event was a major surprise to those following the Vogue livestream, as it marked her first public outing since the conclusion of her lawsuit.
The legal drama, which began in December 2024, saw Lively accuse Baldoni and his production company of sexual harassment and retaliation.
However, a judge recently dismissed the majority of her claims, including all of the sexual harassment allegations, leaving the two parties to settle the remaining counts of breach of contract and retaliation out of court on Monday.
Despite the heavy atmosphere surrounding her legal woes, Lively appeared completely unbothered on the night, wearing a colourful archival Atelier Versace gown from 2006.
The settlement between Lively and Baldoni was framed by their legal teams as a way to find closure and move forward in peace, yet the public’s reaction to the Met Gala snap suggests that a “respectful environment online” remains a long way off.
While the film It Ends With Us was a box office hit in 2024, the off-screen friction clearly continues to shadow those involved.
For Hathaway, what was likely intended as a simple social moment has turned into a significant PR headache, as fans continue to slam the actress for her choice of company on fashion’s biggest night.
Entertainment
Kadeem Hardison calls ‘Euphoria’ costar Zendaya ‘a boss’
Kadeem Hardison has described his former Disney Channel daughter and current Euphoria co-star Zendaya as “a boss”, following their surprise on-screen reunion.
The pair, who starred together as father and daughter on the hit show K.C. Undercover a decade ago, have reunited for the latest season of the gritty HBO drama.
Hardison joined the cast as Big Eddy, a character working alongside Zendaya’s Rue in a strip club managed by drug lord Alamo.
The reunion has been a long time coming for the duo, who stayed in touch after their Disney days.
Hardison revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that it was Zendaya herself who introduced him to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson during a holiday dinner.
He admitted that when he first watched the show at its premiere, he was “wildly uncomfortable” seeing the intense world it depicted, which was a far cry from their family-friendly beginnings.
However, after meeting Levinson and visiting the set, he eventually landed the role of Big Eddy.
Reflecting on how much Zendaya has changed since she was a teenager, Hardison noted that while she has matured, her leadership qualities were visible even when she was 16.
He recalled being impressed that she was an executive producer on their Disney show, and he is even more struck by how she has expanded that role into her film career.
“She’s always been that person and she’s always been a boss,” he said, jokingly referring to the multi-award-winning actress as his “little big sister” because she is often the more mature one of the two.
The latest episode provided plenty of dramatic meat for both actors, with Hardison’s character caught in a violent drug war.
He confessed that watching Zendaya’s performance now is a shock compared to their early work, admitting he didn’t know she had such “depth” and felt he had to work hard to keep up with her.
For Hardison, whose career stretches back over three decades to A Different World, the experience was a full-circle moment that proved his own advice to fellow actors: as long as you stay in the game, the next big hit is always just around the corner.
Entertainment
Jimmy Kimmel roasts Donald, Melanie Trump even after warning
Jimmy Kimmel is pressing ahead with jokes about President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, brushing off White House pressure and calls for him to be taken off air.
On his Monday, 4 May, show, Kimmel took aim at the president’s late-night posting activity on Truth Social, singling out a photo Trump shared of his wife.
“At 11:04, he posted this even more unbelievable picture of Melania smiling,” Kimmel said to laughter from the studio audience.
“I don’t know the last time we saw that.”
He also picked up on Trump’s weekend remarks at a Florida retirement community, where the president claimed Melania “hates” when he dances on stage to Y.M.C.A. by the Village People, which Trump called “the gay national anthem.”
“Melania hates when you do things? No way!” Kimmel quipped. “What a buzzkill.”
The jokes come as Kimmel finds himself in the middle of a serious escalation with the White House.
The dispute flared after a 23 April episode in which he described Melania as having “a glow like an expectant widow.”
Two days later, a gunman rushed security at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
The suspected shooter, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was subsequently charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
Melania, who had attended the dinner, made a rare public statement ahead of the court appearance, directly criticising Kimmel.
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” she wrote on X.
“Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung called Kimmel a “s— human being” and said he should be fired “immediately.”
Kimmel defended the original remark, describing it as an “obvious” joke about the age gap between the president, 79, and the first lady, 56.
He also addressed Melania directly, expressing genuine sympathy about the scare at the dinner.
“I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Just ’cause no one got killed doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary.”
Trump himself weighed in during a Newsmax appearance, calling Kimmel “a lowlife, whether he apologized or not” and saying he “shouldn’t be on television.”
The president had previously threatened to “test” ABC after the network briefly suspended Kimmel in September over remarks about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC and its parent company Disney are facing mounting pressure from the administration.
The Federal Communications Commission last week ordered a review of ABC’s station licences, citing a probe into possible violations of federal law and FCC rules at local ABC stations.
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