Why India is facing massive flight delays and what flyers can do

India is facing massive flight delays. At least 500 flights were delayed and 10 cancelled at Indira Gandhi Airport on Sunday, while Monday witnessed over 100 flights delayed and five diverted. Passengers have faced interminable delays including while waiting to take off, a lack of food and drink being offered, and air conditioners being out of order. A violent incident also occurred on Sunday after an enraged passenger aboard an IndiGo flight assaulted a flight co-captain. But why is this happening? And what can flyers do in case of flight cancellations and delays? And what is the government doing? Let’s take a closer look: What happened and why? On Sunday, at least 10 flights were diverted, while hundreds of others were delayed across the country.

CNN Traveller reported that over 50 flights were delayed in Kolkata alone.

As per India Today, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport witnessed 58 flights delayed and eight cancelled over bad weather. Across the country, passengers were forced to endure long hours at airports and inside aircrafts with many taking to social media to express their anguish. . In one incident of violence, passenger on an IndiGo flight was arrested after he hit a pilot when he was making an announcement regarding a delay in take-off at the Delhi airport.

A passenger punched an Indigo capt in the aircraft as he was making delay announcement. The guy ran up from the last row and punched the new Capt who replaced the previous crew who crossed FDTL. Unbelievable ! @DGCAIndia @MoCA_GoI pic.twitter.com/SkdlpWbaDd

— Capt_Ck (@Capt_Ck) January 14, 2024

A purported video of the incident, which took place Sunday evening, surfaced on social media and showed Sahil Katariya, in a yellow jacket, hitting the pilot as he was making the announcement inside the aircraft. In a statement, the airline said Katariya “assaulted” the co-pilot and that the matter had been referred to an independent internal committee for the inclusion of the passenger on the “no-fly list”. In the short video clip, other crew members could be seen shouting at him after he hit the pilot. In another video clip, Katariya was seen being taken out of the aircraft by security personnel even as he apologised for his conduct. He was then taken to a police station and later arrested. The flight took off from Delhi at 6 pm after a delay of more than 10 hours, according to flight tracking website flightradar24. [caption id=“attachment_13616002” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A passenger hits an IndiGo pilot when he was making an announcement regarding a delay before take-off at the Delhi airport on Sunday PTI[/caption] “The flight was to take-off at 9 am. It was obvious seeing the weather condition it would be delayed. But they kept giving conflicting information. After 2 pm, when the aircraft was ready, they said they don’t have a crew as that crew has been put on another flight,” a passenger told NDTV. “It was absolute chaos. After they got a crew it was 5.30 pm. We boarded around 8 pm. There was no pilot. I don’t think the ground staff or the crew is to blame. It’s the management, or rather mismanagement… There was no food, only some packets of chips in 17 hours,” she said. “They are not valuing their customers, and not keeping them informed,” she added. Delhi airport, which had seen massive delays on Sunday, witnessed another five flights diverted on Monday due to bad weather. “Data from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. shows that the CAT-III Runway RWY 11R/29L handled 30 landings and 1 take off during the four-hour period whereas the non-CAT III Runway RWY 9/27 couldn’t handle any flight movement and RWY 11L/29R handled 2 Take-offs during the period,” the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a post on X on Monday. Part of the reason for all the delays is a thick blanket of fog across North India, as per CNN Traveller. The IMD has issued a severe cold wave alert across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi. Delhi airport has four runways — RW 09/27, RW 11R/29L, RW 10/28 and RW 11L/29R. One of them is not operational. The airport is the country’s largest airport and handles around 1,300 flights daily. As per the Federal Administration of Aviation website, the CAT III B Instrument Landing System (ILS) allows aircrafts to land in low visibility conditions with the help of radio signals and sometimes high-intensity lighting arrays.

Only one of Delhi’s runways is CAT III enabled.

However, that runway has under repair from September, as per The Print. The other runways cannot handle zero-visibility operations. What can flyers do? Flyers should know their rights. As per News18, in case of substantial delays, the airlines must offer passengers meals and refreshments. In case the delay is over six hours, passengers can demand a ticket for another flight or even a full refund of their ticket.

If a plane is delayed for over a day, it is the airline’s responsibility to provide passengers with accommodation.

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This is also applicable if the plane is delayed over six hours for a flight departing between 8:00 pm and 3 am. Air India has also brought in the a “Fog Care” scheme – which allows passengers to cancel or reschedule flights for no additional fees. Keep in mind that airlines do not have to pay reparations to passengers for delays such as Air Traffic Control (ATC) issues, security problems, natural disasters, or political issues. As per DGCA guidelines, airlines must inform passengers about their flights being cancelled at least two weeks in advance. The airline must also set up an alternative booking or refund the ticket. If passengers are not informed or they miss the flight, the airline must make a Full refund and Rs 5,000 or booked one-way basic fare whichever is less for flights up to one hour Full refund and Rs 7,500 or booked one-way basic fare whichever is less for flights between one to two hours. Full refund and Rs 10,000 or booked one-way basic fare, whichever is less for flights above two hours. For alternative flights, the airlines must the passengers with meals, refreshments and hotel accommodations including transfers. Also, above all, keep calm Psychologist Divya Srivastava told CNN Traveller that passengers ought to “remember to breathe.” “It is very normal to feel anxious when you are held up for long, and that too in closed spaces. Try learning a few breathing techniques beforehand. Keep water on you at all times, and keep a friendly distraction handy: a magazine or a fidget toy should do.” What is the government doing? Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday asked passengers to “bear with us during this difficult period.” In a post on X, Scindia said Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero between 5 am and 9 am.

According to him, the authorities were compelled to enforce a shutdown of operations for some time even on CAT-III runways.

The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem, he added. [caption id=“attachment_13544912” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational Image/PTI[/caption] Emphasising that all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise the fog-related impact, Scindia said that certain steps are also being taken to mitigate the situation in the near future. “Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero between 5 AM to 9 AM. The authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem,” Scindia wrote on X. “However, to mitigate the situation in the near future, following steps have been taken: a. @DelhiAirport has been asked to immediately expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the @DGCAIndia, in order to get approvals. b. The DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays due to adverse weather,” the minister added. As per The Print, authorities have directed the Delhi airport to make the CAT-III enabled runway operational as soon as possible. Meanwhile, airport operator DIAL has been directed to expedite the operationalisation of CAT III-enabled fourth runway.

When a runway is CAT-III-compliant, flight operations can happen even in low-visibility conditions.

Scindia said all stakeholders are working round the clock to minimise fog-related impact. He also warned that “incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions.” In recent weeks, dense fog and absence of CAT III-compliant runways resulted in disruption of flight operations amid low-visibility conditions. During 25-28 December, flight operations were significantly impacted at the Delhi airport, and nearly 60 flights of various airlines were diverted due to dense fog. Last month, airport sources had said 58 flights were diverted due to bad weather between 12 am on 25 December and 6 am on 28 December. Recently, aviation regulator DGCA 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. With inputs from agencies