'Strict' action if airlines violate new rules, says Jyotiraditya Scindia

The government will take “very strict” action against airlines if they are found to be violating new rules that have been issued to them to sensitively handle passengers affected by fog-induced flight disruptions, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday.

Between Sunday and Wednesday, hundreds of flights across the country have been delayed and cancelled due to dense fog.

On Tuesday, the minister had asked the airlines to set up war rooms to address issues of affected passengers immediately.

He also asked the carriers to report fog-related incidents thrice a day.

This was in addition to the standard operating procedure (SOP) that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued on Monday, asking airlines to give real-time updates on flight delays.

 

“One of the things that we have done in those SOPs is that we have instructed airlines that if they think the flight will be delayed by more than three hours, they must treat that flight as cancelled. So, this question of six-hour delays and eight-hour delays should now become a thing of the past,” Scindia said here at Wings India Summit 2024.
 

“In terms of cancellations and delays, in terms of the war rooms that I have asked every airline to set up at every airport, in terms of informing passengers on SMS, email or WhatsApp — all these SOPs are being monitored by the DGCA on a thrice daily basis. This is being done every day....These rules are in place. Any violation of that and very strict action will be taken,” he added.

In the SOP, the DGCA has asked airlines to cancel flights that are anticipated to be delayed or are delayed for more than three hours on account of fog or other adverse weather conditions.

This will help obviate “congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience”, it noted. It had also asked airlines to sensitise their airport staff to “suitably communicate with and continuously guide and inform the passengers about flight delays”.

In a bid to ensure better fatigue management, the DGCA on January 8 revamped the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) regulations for pilots. The latest rules include additional rest for pilots, revision of night duty regulations, and directions for airlines to submit pilot fatigue reports. The regulator has mandated airline operators to comply with the new notification by June 1 this year. Certain airlines are worried that the new rules could ultimately affect their flight schedules but Scindia said that there can be no compromise on safety.

Scindia added, “As the civil aviation minister, I am not a minister for airlines, I am not a minister for airports, I am a minister for every stakeholder in my ecosystem. It means when airlines or airports or passengers or flight crew have a pain point, it is my responsibility to resolve it.

Therefore, the ecosystem has to work like multiple wheels on the back of the clock, where every wheel has to work in a way that is not endangering safety and security of any other part of the wheel. Therefore, this issue with regards to flight crew, when it was flagged to me, I told the DGCA that we must look at all the international peers (US aviation regulator's rules, for instance).”