Around 7 in 10 fliers surveyed had to suffer cancellations or rescheduling at least once in the last 12 months due to the “internal operational reasons” of the airline, a survey by LocalCircles has said.
While 20% of the 11,296 respondents to the query said they had faced such cancellations or rescheduling “4-6 times”, 30% respondents said they found themselves in the situation “2-3 times”. Around 20% respondents faced cancellations and rescheduling due to airline operations “once”. Close to 20% respondents said they never faced such cancellations or rescheduling.
Around nine in 10 fliers said they want the government to mandate the airlines to pay them back 25-30% of the ticket price as penalty if flights are cancelled or rescheduled due to internal reasons.
“The key issue cited by passengers is the unfair playing field where airlines deny boarding to passengers reaching check-in counter even a few minutes late and collect additional amounts in fare differences while at the same time do not incur any penalties for delaying, rescheduling or cancelling flights for internal airline reasons,” the survey report said.
“There is a need for the regulator to step in here and introduce appropriate penalties for airlines in such scenarios as it may well push airlines to ensure they are better prepared with appropriate resources and thereby minimize delays due to internal reasons. This is likely to improve on-time performance of the entire aviation ecosystem and thereby raise air passenger satisfaction levels in India,” it added.
Aviation regulator DGCA had recently slapped a fine of Rs 30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet for lapses in rostering of pilots for operating flights in low visibility conditions. “After analysing the flight delay/cancellation/diversion-related data submitted by scheduled airlines for December 2023, DGCA found that Air India and SpiceJet did not roster CAT II/III and LVTO qualified pilots for some of the flights,” an official said.
CAT II/III pertains to operating flights in low visibility conditions. LVTO refers to Low Visibility take-off.
According to two orders issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a penalty of Rs 30 lakh each has been imposed on Air India and SpiceJet. Earlier this month, DGCA had issued show cause notices to Air India and SpiceJet for not deploying pilots trained to operate in low visibility conditions, following diversions of various flights amid dense fog at the Delhi airport in late December.
During December 25-28 last year, flight operations were significantly impacted at the Delhi airport, and nearly 60 flights of various airlines were diverted due to dense fog.
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