Weekday Musing: The Indigo Imbroglio — When Expectations Land on Inconvenience

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Much has been said about the recent Indigo imbroglio—delays, miscommunication, operational lapses. But there is a deeper psychological dimension that explains why tempers flared so quickly, despite Indigo being a no-frills budget airline.

Only a decade or two ago, many of us were more accustomed to long train journeys. Delays, last-minute platform changes, even cancellations were part of the experience. We prepared accordingly, built in time, and accepted the occasional disruption as part of travel, adapting to whatever came our way.

Today, our collective expectations from air travel—premium or budget—have risen sharply. Over the last two decades, flying has been surrounded by imagery of comfort and exclusivity: lounges, priority lanes, curated cabin experiences, the language of “premium” and “comfort,” celebrity sightings, and the general sense of being part of a sleek, modern lifestyle.

Even budget airlines cannot escape this halo. People may buy a no-frills ticket, but they still carry expectations shaped by this wider ecosystem. So the issue is not luxury in the traditional sense, but how modern comfort recalibrates expectations—and makes any disruption feel sharper.

This creates a subtle shift: Air travel is now perceived as a quasi-luxury experience, even when purchased at budget fares.

Here an insight from Nassim Nicholas Taleb becomes relevant. Taleb, a scholar known for his work on risk, uncertainty, and human behaviour (The Black Swan, Antifragile), observes:

“The more you treat yourself to luxury, the more it becomes a necessity, and the more fragile you become.”

Taleb is highlighting a cultural reality: as comfort rises, tolerance falls. The smoother life becomes, the less equipped we are to handle friction of any kind. Expectations silently inflate; resilience silently erodes. In this sense, the Indigo incident is not just an operational lapse—it is a moment when our expectations landed squarely on inconvenience, and the impact felt disproportionate.

Modern travel reinforces a mindset that leaves little room for disruption. So when something goes wrong—even temporarily—the disappointment is not merely practical but emotional. Passengers feel the “experience” they paid for has been breached.

This is not about assigning blame. It is about recognising a broader trend: we have become a society with high expectations and low tolerance. As luxury sensibilities seep into everyday life, even budget travel is viewed through a premium lens, narrowing the margin for error almost to zero.

And this brings us to the heart of the matter: while technology and service have raced ahead, our emotional bandwidth has not kept pace. 

We expect efficiency everywhere, but we have forgotten how to absorb the unexpected. If convenience is the new normal, then resilience must become the new discipline. Without it, the smallest snag will continue to feel like a crisis.

In the end, the Indigo imbroglio is not only about planes and passengers—it is a reminder of how easily our calm can fracture when a smooth world meets a rough moment.

You may also want to read my piece on:  Weekday Musings – The Problems We Love to Have

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