Amid chaos over extensive flight delays due to dense fog at the Delhi airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday issued standard operating procedures for airlines to be followed with immediate effect.
In the new guidelines, the DGCA has stated that airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, flights that are expected to be delayed beyond 3 hours.
“In view of the prevalent fog season and adverse weather conditions, airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, such flights that are anticipated to be delayed or consequentially delayed on account of such conditions beyond a period of 3 hours with a view to obviate congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience,” the DGCA said.
The aviation authority has also instructed airlines to provide precise real-time updates on flight delays caused by fog.
The information, the DGCA directive said, must be published on the airline’s official website and shared with passengers through WhatsApp, text messages, and email.
The DGCA has also asked airlines to publish the reference of the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on flight tickets.
“The airlines are also required to publish the reference of the CAR on the flight tickets…It is, accordingly, obligatory on the part of all airlines to mandatorily adhere to the provisions of the above CAR,” it added.
The new SOPs for airlines comes amid chaos at the Delhi airport due to flight delays. In some cases, the flights were delayed for over 12 hours and passengers were seen having food at the tarmac.
On Sunday, a passanger turned violent and punched captain of an Indigo flight, that was delayed for more than 10 hours.
The incident took place when the captain was making announcement of further delay. A video of the incident has now gone viral on social media.
It shows a man wearing yellow hoodies rushing towards the pilot while the latter was making announcement of further delay in the flight.
“Nahi chalana toh mat chala, bol de (If you don’t want to fly the plane, then don’t),” he was heard yelling at the pilot.
The flier was later detained at the airport and handed over to law enforcement authorities.