Govt to be tough with airlines on delays

NEW DELHI: The Government will adopt tough measures to penalise airlines who failed to stick to their flight schedules during the winter months in the wake of a Meteorological department warning about low visibility for 150 hours due to fog in the coming winter season.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by senior officials of Civil Aviation Ministry, including those from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India, and representatives of various airlines and DIAL, developer of Delhi airport.

The meeting was called by the Ministry to set in motion a series of measures to reduce the harassment of air travellers due to flight disruptions and delays when airports are enveloped by fog during the winter season.

The meeting, attended by representatives from Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, Kingfisher, SpiceJet and Air Deccan reviewed the implementation of various measures recommended by the aviation authorities ahead of the winter season, which will see additional 50 flights operating in and out of the Indira Gandhi International airport.

The Met department told the meeting that flights may not be able to operate for nearly 150 hours when visibility would be less than 50 metres, official sources said.

This promoted the authorities to take a strict decision of penalising any airline which did not adhere to its schedule and slot granted to it. The airlines have been asked to position a minimum strength of CAT-III Instrument Landing System-trained pilots to operate flights.