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Airlines should publish real-time information regarding flight delays on their websites, inform affected passengers through WhatsApp messages and email, and sensitise their staff at airports to communicate with passengers: These were among the SOPs issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to carriers Monday in view of massive disruptions in services due to fog.
The DGCA said, “In view of the prevalent fog season and adverse weather conditions, airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, such flights that are anticipated to be delayed or consequentially delayed on account of such conditions beyond a period of 3 hours with a view to obviate congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience.”
The SOP also states that airlines are required to display updated information on delays at airports. It also said carriers must sensitise staff at airports to communicate with and “continuously guide and inform the passengers about flight delays”.
The move comes after Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia instructed DGCA to issue an SOP to airlines on “better communication and facilitation of passengers” affected by cancellations and delays. He also asked aviation authorities to expedite return to service of a runway capable of low-visibility flight operations.
Earlier, Scindia, in a post on social media platform X wrote: “Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero between 5 am to 9 am. Authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle zero-visibility operations)…”
It further read: “However, to mitigate the situation in the near future, following steps have been taken: a. Delhi Airport has been asked to immediately expedite operationalisation of CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of DGCA, in order to get approvals. b. The DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort…”
The minister also wrote: “It is my earnest request to all travellers to bear with us during this difficult period… Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with existing legal provisions…”
On Sunday, social media was replete with posts by passengers complaining about long delays and cancellations. In one incident, a passenger attacked an IndiGo pilot.
Delhi airport has four runways of which two are Instrument Landing System (ILS) CAT IIIB-compliant, which means they are equipped to handle aircraft in extremely low visibility. One of the two CAT IIIB-compliant runways is under maintenance for recarpeting and has not been in operation for weeks. It is worth noting that having CAT IIIB-compliant runways is not enough in low visibility; airlines are also required to deploy aircraft equipped for ILS CAT IIIB and pilots trained to handle low-visibility operations.
