Fog turns airports into virtual battlegrounds

BANGALORE: The Ahmedabad airport witnessed drama on December 25 when over 100 passengers of the Delhi-bound Air India 806 flight from Mumbai, diverted because of fog in the national capital, refused to disembark after the pilot cited duty-hour limitations for not flying. The flight scheduled to reach Delhi by 10 am finally took off at 8pm.

Similarly, four passengers of the Delhi-bound 9H-171 MDLR flight were off-loaded on December 18 because they posed a security threat after their brawl with the cabin crew due to a fog delay at Chandigarh airport. The aircraft stood near the runway for four hours and was parked at the bay for another. It finally took off at 12.20 pm.

Though airlines and airport authorities claim to have taken  steps to overcome fog situations, incidents of passengers getting into tiffs with airline staff are on the rise across the country. At least one incident is witnessed every day at airports in north India, say airport authorities.

JP Singh, one of the four passengers to be off-loaded from the MDLR flight, said: “Though the cabin crew had prior information on the deferred departing time of the flight, they did not inform us. They kept us waiting and when we protested, they complained to the station manager. They were extremely rude.”

“Airlines know fog problems, but are not willing to invest in modern instruments,” says Sudhakar Reddy, founder and president of Air Passengers’ Association of India.

Airlines claim fog delays are inevitable. A Central Industrial Security Force officer said: “Airlines do not inform passengers in advance. All they do is restrict them to the check-in area. When a flight is delayed, its staff disappears. Airlines have instructions not to inform passengers because they do not want to lose money to cancellations.”

k_bhargavi@dnaindfia.net