War Rooms, More CISF Personnel: After SOPs, Scindia Announces New Measures To Deal With Flight Disruptions

He said that both airports and airlines will set up 'war rooms' to promptly address passenger issues.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said it will also be ensured that there is sufficient CISF manpower at the airports.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Amid massive disruptions in flight operations across North India due to dense fog conditions, the civil aviation ministry has directed Delhi, Mumbai, and four other metro airports to provide reports on incidents three times a day. Additionally, both airports and airlines will set up 'war rooms' to promptly address passenger issues.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said it will also be ensured that there is sufficient CISF manpower availability round-the-clock at the airports, reported PTI.

This series of developments follows a string of incidents reported in the past few days, including a passenger assaulting an IndiGo pilot at the Delhi airport and passengers of an IndiGo flight sitting on the tarmac of the Mumbai airport amid long flight delays due to fog.

In a post on X, Scindia said the ministry has sought "incidence reporting thrice daily for all the six metro airports." Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata are the metro airports, as per the PTI report.

Earlier on Monday, aviation regulator DGCA issued a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) after Scindia said all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise fog-related disruptions.

In view of the fog-induced disruptions, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on mitigating passenger inconvenience were issued yesterday to all the airlines.

1. In addition to these SOPs, we have sought incidence reporting thrice daily for all the 6 metro airports.

2.… https://t.co/346YXjxGdH

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 16, 2024

He further said that 'war rooms' will be set up by airports and airline operators at the six metro airports to address any issues concerning passenger inconvenience with immediacy. Also, sufficient CISF manpower availability will be ensured round-the-clock, Scindia added.

Regarding the Delhi airport, the minister said runway RWY 29L has been made CAT III operational on Tuesday. 

The operationalisation of RWY 10/28 as CAT III at the airport will be done after re-carpeting work. Currently, three out of the four runways at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital are operational.

Scindia added that the implementation of DGCA directives and SOPs will be monitored and reported regularly. 

Delhi Weather

On weather conditions in Delhi and North India, IMD Scientist Soma Sen said that there will not be much change in the minimum temperature and foggy conditions will persist.

"In Delhi and in North India, we are not expecting much change in the minimum temperature. Maybe one-degree rise is likely because of the sunny skies, but foggy conditions will persist. Low cloud conditions may also continue for the neighbouring regions because of which Haryana, Punjab will see severe cold day conditions for the next two to three days... We are not expecting any sudden change in either temperature or cold conditions," she said.

#WATCH | Delhi: On weather conditions in Delhi and North India, IMD Scientist Soma Sen says, "In Delhi and in North India, we are not expecting much change in the minimum temperature. Maybe one-degree rise is likely because of the sunny skies, but foggy conditions will persist.… pic.twitter.com/CHkjCxUb2x

— ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2024

 "The intensity of cold will gradually decrease which is a seasonal effect," she added.