Stretched,Air India to shift all operations to T3 by Sunday

“There is a shortage of staff. But we have taken people from other departments to tide over this crisis. We hope to reduce delays by 80-90 per cent in another two days,” an airline spokesperson said. The official said the shifting of entire operations to T3 would certainly have a positive impact on the current situation,as the available manpower could then concentrate on operations in one terminal. “Terminal 3 is anyway three times the size of a normal terminal,and there is a shortage of manpower. Things will improve once the entire operations get shifted here,” the official said.

Sources said the problems arose due to operator DIAL’s (Delhi International Airport Limited) decision to postpone shifting of domestic operations to Terminal 3 till November 14 due to lack of infrastructure. “But the winter schedule from October 31 was announced three months ago and the decision to postpone shifting of operations came too late. We had already announced Terminal 3 as the hub and promised seamless international-domestic transfer to passengers,and this could not be cancelled. The infrastructure is not ready yet,and we are managing things manually despite already struggling with a manpower shortage,” a senior official said.