“War Rooms At Airports”: Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s New Rules Over Flight Delays

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday announced a six-point action plan to combat fog-induced disruptions to domestic and international commercial flight operations, which have resulted in the delay or cancellation of hundreds of flights. In a post on X, Mr Scindia outlined new SOPs, or standard operating procedures, issued to airlines to “mitigate passenger inconvenience”

In addition to these, the Union Minister said the centre had daily reports from all six metro airports, as well as reports into implementation of Directorate General of Civil Aviation directives

“‘War rooms’ will be set up by airports and airline operators at all six metros to address any issues with regard to passenger inconvenience with immediacy,” he said, “Sufficient CISF (Central Industrial Security Force, which handles security at airports) manpower will be ensured round-the-clock.”

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.

2.… https://t.co/346YXjxGdH

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 16, 2024

Mr Scindia also said Runway 29L at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport had been made CAT III operational, allowing it to handle take-offs and departures even during dense fog scenarios.

He said Runway 10/28 – also with CAT III status – would be made operational soon; the runway, the airport’s oldest runway was shut last year, after the G20 Summit was held in Delhi, for maintenance.

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On Monday too Mr Scindia had taken to X amid passenger fury as IndiGo and other airlines, including national carrier Air India, battled poor communications and schedule delays due to bad weather.

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Pointing to “unprecedented fog” in Delhi on Sunday – that meant visibility “dropped to zero between 5 am to 9 am” – the Aviation Minister appealed for patience as his ministry takes addresses issues.

He said the decision to suspend flight ops at Delhi airport – over 100 services were either cancelled or delayed on Sunday and more than 150 on Monday – was taken “keeping passenger safety in mind”.

He had said then that SOPs “aimed at enhancing communication and passenger facilitation” would be issued to all airlines soon. “It is my earnest request to bear with us in this difficult period,” he said.

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Mr Scindia also slammed as “unacceptable” any example of violence on board planes. He was referring to shocking scenes on a Delhi-Goa IndiGo flight; a passenger assaulted the captain after his flight was delayed by over 10 hours. The passenger – Sahil Kataria – has been arrested and made bail.

READ | IndiGo Flight Passenger Reveals What Happened Before Man Slapped Pilot

IndiGo has said it is considering including Mr Kataria in the ‘no-fly list’.

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