The central government on Tuesday announced a new action plan as heavy fog disrupted fight operations across north India, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at airports for hours.
As part of the plan, ‘war rooms’ will be set up by airports and airline operators at all six metro airports to address any issues with regard to passenger inconvenience immediately.
The Civil Aviation Minister also sought incidence reporting thrice daily for all the six metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said implementation of directives, SOPs and CARs of the aviation watchdog DGCA will be monitored and reported regularly.
The minister also informed that sufficient CISF manpower availability will be ensured round-the-clock. This came after a passenger assaulted an IndiGo pilot on Sunday after his flight was delayed by 12 hours.
Informing about the new rules, Scindia said that Delhi airport’s Runway 29L had been made CAT III operational, allowing it to handle take-offs and departures even during low-visibility scenarios. Runway 10/28 – also with CAT III status – would be made operational as soon as re-carpeting is concluded, he added.
In view of the fog-induced disruptions, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on mitigating passenger inconvenience were issued yesterday to all the airlines.1. In addition to these SOPs, we have sought incidence reporting thrice daily for all the 6 metro airports.
— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 16, 2024
The new rules were issued after widespread criticism was witnessed by the passengers amid extensive delays in flight operations. Operations at the Delhi Airport on Sunday were significantly impacted by dense fog resulting in diversion, cancellation, and delay of many flights.
Tensions escalated on Sunday when a high-voltage drama erupted from the Delhi Airport, which included passengers having to sit inside planes lined up on runways for hours. In fact, a video of an IndiGo passenger went viral on social media on Sunday after he assaulted the captain of a Goa-bound flight. The passenger was later taken into custody for his ‘unruly behaviour’.
DGCA Issues SOP to Airlines As Fog Disrupts Ops
In the wake of massive flight cancellations and delays at various airports, including Delhi’s IGI Airport, due to the fog and adverse weather conditions, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) has issued a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the airlines. The SOPs will have to be mandatorily adhered by the airlines with immediate effect and were issued in public interest.
As per the aviation watchdog’s guidelines, the airlines should publish accurate real-time information regarding delays in their flights. There should also be appropriate sensitisation of the airline staff at the airports to suitably communicate with and continuously guide and inform the passengers about flight delays.
In addition to this, the DGCA in its release asked the airlines to display of updated information regarding flight delays to passengers waiting at the airports.
Scindia on Delhi Airport Chaos
Scindia on Monday condemned the “unruly behaviour” of passengers on planes and stated that such incidents will not be tolerated. He attributed the chaos at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday to “unprecedented fog” that caused delays and cancellations to over 150 flights.
Scindia further assured that authorities had prioritised passenger safety during the foggy conditions and said that incidents of unruly behaviour during flight delays are unacceptable.
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