The Karnataka State Travel Operators Association (KSTOA) has cautioned that the ongoing disruption in Airbus A320 operations could unleash a major economic and employment crisis across the State’s tourism sector if the situation continues for even 15 days.
Speaking to The Hindu, K. Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Karnataka State Travel Owners’ Association, said, “The aviation sector forms the backbone of tourism, particularly for taxi and cab drivers, hotel operators, tour agencies, and other allied services. The prolonged grounding of A320 aircraft widely deployed on domestic and international routes is already causing a ripple effect across the industry”.
Mr. Holla said the immediate impacts are being felt on the ground. “We are already seeing fewer foreign tourists arriving, airfares rising sharply, and hotel bookings declining. Tour operators, cab services, guides, homestay owners, and other allied sectors are reporting mounting losses. Just Saturday, many passengers who had booked cabs cancelled their rides after airlines cancelled their flights. Several cab owners have complained that such last-minute cancellations are causing drivers to lose income,” he said.
Daily-wage earners vulnerable
He added that those most vulnerable are daily-wage earners whose income is tied directly to tourist inflow. “This is not merely an aircraft problem, it is a livelihood problem. When flights stop, tourism stops. And when tourism stops, thousands who depend on it, especially taxi and cab drivers, are pushed to the brink. If this disruption continues for another 15 days to a month, Karnataka travel operators could witness an employment crisis on a scale we have not seen in recent years,” Mr. Holla warned.
KSTOA expressed concern that State tourism revenues could fall sharply, hampering a fragile post-pandemic recovery that many operators are still struggling through.
A320 grounding
On Friday, Airbus stated that intense solar radiation could corrupt data critical to flight controls in several A320 family aircraft. The aircraft manufacturer warned that essential software modifications would lead to temporary operational disruptions.
Following this, India’s aviation regulator mandated that airlines ground A320 aircraft that had not completed the software update by Sunday morning. Major carriers then moved quickly to implement the fix across their fleets.
The manufacturer’s alert came after a JetBlue flight from Mexico to Newark on October 30 experienced an uncontrolled four- to five-second descent before autopilot systems corrected the aircraft’s path. Investigations linked the issue to the aircraft’s ELAC (Elevator and Aileron Computer) a critical system that transmits pilot commands to the aircraft’s elevators, controlling its pitch.
Published – November 30, 2025 07:41 pm IST
