Question : PASSENGER INCONVENIENCE DUE TO FOG

(a) whether the passengers faced a lot of hardships during the recent winter months on account of delay/cancellation of a large number of flights owing to fog;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the manner in which the difficulties faced by the passengers was addressed thereto;

(c) the concrete measures taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to minimise hardships to the passengers;

(d) whether the DGCA has reviewed the comparative improvement in flight operations during winters in the light of the measures undertaken by them year after year; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the further measures contemplated by the DGCA in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION (SHRI PRAFUL PATEL)

(a) to (e):- A statement is laid on the table of the House.

STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TBALE OF THE LOK SBAHA IN REPLY TO STARRED QUESTION NO. 201 DATED 11.03.2010 REGARDING PASSENGER INCONVENIENCE DUE TO FOG.

(a) to (c):- A total number of 201 scheduled flights got diverted and 339 flights were cancelled at Delhi airport due to fog during the recent winter season which caused inconvenience to the passengers.

Following measures were taken to minimize passenger inconvenience :-

(i) Scheduled airlines were advised to reschedule the flights after assessing the weather forecast on previous day and inform passengers accordingly to avoid any inconvenience.

(ii) Airlines were asked to inform the passengers of the delay/rescheduling/ cancellation of their flights in advance through mobile/SMS/other communication mean to avoid congestion at the airport and inconveniance to the passengers as well.

(iii)Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) were also asked to ensure proper passenger facilitation and timely information for passengers.

(iv) DIAL was asked to assess the flight delays and accordingly display in the terminal building regarding delay and rescheduling of flights for passenger information.
(v) Airlines have to augment their ground staff and position them at the airport with proper briefing for handling various passenger facilitation processes in coordination with the other airport agencies.

(vi)Airlines were also advised to provide facilitation in terms of tea/water/snacks to the passenger of their delayed flights.
(d) & (e):- Yes, Madam. The review meetings were held by the DGCA regularly, as a result of which there has been a better compliance of instructions/ regulations of DGCA in respect of fog management. The number of CAT-III compliant aircraft has increased from 162 in 2008 to 206 in 2009. Similarly, the number of pilots trained for CAT-III operations are now 1323 as on 17.11.2009. However, the duration of Low Visibility Procedure (LVP) in 2009-10 longer than in year 2008-09. This was due to natural conditions beyond human control. Due to longer LVP in present year the total number of flight affected were 900 as compared to 629 flights in 2009.