Indian aviation authority issues new guideline after fog forces flight delays, cancellations

The Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday (January 15, 2024) issued a new guideline to deal with chaotic conditions over delays in flights as was witnessed because of fog on the Delhi airport.

In the usual working process (SOP) for “services to be supplied to passengers by airways because of denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights”, the DGCA stated that airways might cancel flights which might be prone to be delayed or “consequentially delayed” past three hours.

The DGCA stated all airways should comply with the SOP instantly.

However, within the case of extraordinary circumstances past the management of airways, the provisions of those guidelines should not relevant, the DGCA stated.

What are the directives?

Airlines shall be required to publish correct real-time data concerning delays of their flights, on the respective web site of the airline; via advance data to affected passengers by SMS/WhatsApp and electronic mail; show up to date data concerning flight delays to passengers ready at airports, and acceptable sensitisation of the airline employees at airports to suitably talk with and repeatedly information and inform passengers about flight delays.

This comes after a chaotic state of affairs broke out on the Delhi Airport on Monday, after a whole lot of passengers of delayed flights demanded solutions from the airways.

The annoying day additionally noticed the passenger of an IndiGo flight attacking a pilot contained in the aircraft whereas it was on the tarmac.

Air India in an announcement on Monday stated it regrets the disruption to operations arising from the previous couple of days’ dense fog in north India, together with at “our foremost Delhi hub, which resulted in some diversions and desynchronisation of plane and crew rotations”.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stated that steps have been taken to keep away from comparable circumstances sooner or later.

“Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog whereby visibility fluctuated for a number of hours, and at instances, dropped to zero between 5 am and 9 am,” Scindia posted on X.

“The authorities, subsequently, had been compelled to implement a shut-down of operations for a while even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways can’t deal with zero-visibility operations). The determination was taken maintaining passenger security in thoughts, which stays the foremost precedence for all within the aviation ecosystem,” he added.

Indigo Pilot assault

Responding to an incident on a Delhi-Goa IndiGo flight the place a co-pilot was slapped by a passenger, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia issued a powerful warning to ‘unruly passengers’ on Monday.

The incident occurred amid widespread flight delays and cancellations attributable to fog.

“It is my earnest request to all travellers to bear with us throughout this tough interval. All stakeholders try their greatest to minimise passenger inconvenience. Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable and shall be handled strongly according to the present authorized provisions,” Scindia tweeted.

Video goes viral

A video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, reveals the accused, clad in a yellow jacket, speeding in direction of a co-pilot and slapping him.

The incident occurred because the IndiGo pilot was saying a delay in takeoff on the Delhi airport amid dense fog and low visibility.

The accused has been recognized as Sahil Kataria.

Following the scuffle, Kataria was instantly deboarded and turned over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Co-pilot Anup Kumar lodged a grievance towards the passenger with the Delhi Police, after which an FIR was registered.

Subsequently, the passenger was despatched to a police station and arrested.

He was later launched on bail.