Civil Aviation Ministry Asks Airlines To 'Do Justice' To Passengers Over Flight Cancellations, Delays

In December, the civil aviation ministry had issued a guideline as per which the airlines were to provide an alternate flight or compensation with full refund in case of flight cancellations.

In a bid to boost its safety standards, the DGCA has conducted as many as 5,745 surveillance activities with respect to airlines, airports and approved organisations in 2023.

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New Delhi: Amid dense fog and other operational issues leading to flight cancellations and delay, Union Ministry of Civil Aviation asked the airlines and operators to do justice to the passengers while dealing with such matters, news agency ANI reported. The direction comes in the wake of the ministry having received several complaints over flight delays and cancellations.

“A senior official of the aviation ministry has advised all the airlines and operators to do justice to the passengers in case of sudden flight cancellations and further delay. DGCA is also keeping an eye on the complaints of passengers too,” an official of the civil aviation ministry told the news agency.

In a meeting with the airlines and operators, Civial Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asked them to follow the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for flight cancellations, delays and refund policies.  

In December, the ministry had issued a guideline as per which the airlines were to provide an alternate flight or provide compensation along with full refund of tickets in case of cancellations. In case of delay, the airlines were asked to provide meals and refreshments, a full refund or alternate flight or hotel accommodation to the passengers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to boost its safety standards, the DGCA has conducted as many as 5,745 surveillance activities with respect to airlines, airports and approved organisations in 2023. The activities include 4,039 planned surveillance and 1,706 spot checks and night surveillance. The number of surveillance activities increased 26 per cent last year as compared to 2022, thereby, marking an all-time high.

The surveillance led to 542 enforcement actions, which is 77 per cent higher than 305 enforcement actions taken in 2022.

The enforcement actions include financial penalties against airlines such as Air India, AirAsia (India), IndiGo and SpiceJet, apart from temporary suspension of approval to Air India's training facilities, DGCA said.

The financial penalties imposed in the year 2023 totalled Rs 2.75 crore for non-compliance of rules by airlines and airports, resulting in a significant uptick of 39% against the financial penalties totalling Rs 1.97 crore imposed in 2022, DGCA said.