Struggling with chaos and criticism after its flight operations went into nosedive following shift to Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport,Air India has now admitted that it was taken completely by surprise by some of the problems it faced at T3. Over 150 flights of the carrier have either been cancelled or delayed since November 1,when it moved 11 domestic flights to T3. Air Indias Chief Commercial Officer Gustav Baldauf told Newsline that the airline did not foresee certain problems during dry runs,which were successful. During dry runs,which were conducted professionally,we underestimated the time required to bring passengers from point A to B (referring to transfer of passengers from domestic side of T3 to the international side and vice-versa). Its quite a walk for passengers as it is a huge terminal, said Baldauf. The airline had drawn up a back-to-back winter schedule,which left little scope for delays and was to be implemented with clockwork precision. The airline also struggled with its ground handling joint venture with a Singapore firm called AISATS. The hiring for AISATS was not done in sufficient numbers. We need at least 160 additional staff to facilitate the shifting process. There arent enough transfer counters at the terminal which has led to huge rush, Baldauf said. A smooth transition to T3 is a joint responsibility of all stakeholders,including Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL),he added. The situation is likely to stabilise in the next few days,he said. We are confident we can do it. Air India is the first mover so it is the first tester of systems in place. Sometimes there are advantages,and sometimes there are disadvantages (of being the first mover). I admit we may have been little bit too optimistic, he said. Jet Airways and Kingfisher,meanwhile,are gearing for shift to T3 on Sunday. Even Jet and Kingfisher are likely to face complexities, said Baldauf. For Air India,the winter schedule,which kicked in from November 1,brought three major changes it enhanced the number of flights,replaced the European hub in Frankfurt and marked T3 as new hub and a transition to hub-and-spoke model. In the hub-and-spoke model international passengers from across the country were to be brought to Delhi for onward international flights and similarly passengers on incoming international flights were to be provided domestic connections. This meant,a slight delay could lead to a domino effect impacting all connecting flights. Rain disrupt flights Rain affected almost every flight at the IGI Airport,with delays running up to 10 hours and 12 flights being diverted. This,as Jet Airways and Kingfisher gear up to shift operations to T3 on Sunday. Both airlines have asked passengers to report two hours before time, said an official. Our flight was cancelled on Friday too. Today again they say the flight is delayed, said a passenger who was to fly to Kathmandu. Meanwhile,to help ease congestion on the approach road to T3,Traffic Police have decided to open another route for traffic coming from Dwarka,Dhaula Kuan and Rao Tula Ram. This way people can avoid NH8 and toll plaza where the congestion is maximum.
