New Delhi, Dec. 10 -- Company Outsider is a weekly newsletter by Sundeep Khanna. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox.

A toothless regulator and a dominant player in a two-horse race is a recipe for disaster. We saw that unfolding this past week as thousands of fliers, scheduled to take one of Indigo's 2,200-odd daily domestic flights, faced last-minute cancellations and rescheduling, throwing their lives into disarray.

Worst was the confusion that ensued, as the airline failed miserably to provide accurate and timely information. In less than a week, the reputation that the airline worked so hard to build over the last two decades lies in tatters.

Yet, the scenario could have been different. Imagine...