A SpiceJet passenger has slammed the airline for poor planning, claiming passengers were made to wait for two hours inside the aircraft. Taking to X, user Pratyush Rawat said that the flight from Delhi to Kolkata, scheduled to take off early Friday was delayed due to dense fog at Delhi Airport. He said that the delay was foreseeable. However, he criticised the airline for making passengers board the airline despite knowing that the flight would not be allowed to take off due to fog.
Tagging the official X account of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mr Rawat wrote, "Boarded SG263 Delhi-Kolkata at 6 am, but still grounded after 2 hrs due to dense fog. There are infants & elderly onboard-this delay was foreseeable and is sheer poor planning. Airlines should ensure ATC clearance before boarding."
Mr Rawat also questioned why the airline had asked passengers to board when the delay was foreseeable. " I have an infant in my lap, and this 2-hr flight has turned into a 6-hr ordeal. Waiting in the lounge would've been much more manageable. This is poor planning and sheer mismanagement," he added.
Notably, the SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Kolkata was among the dozens that faced delays due to dense fog at the Delhi Airport.
The airline quickly responded to Mr Rawat's post. It said that it regretted the inconvenience. However, at 8:40 am, when the flight had still not taken off, Mr Rawat shared a picture of his boarding pass to complain about the delay again. "You have to come up with a Policy for such foreseeable delays. So that a proper call is taken if boarding is required or not," he wrote in a following post.
"Dear @DGCAIndia foreseeable delays have to be handled in a better way . Even the blind man can see the fog and can anticipate there will be a delay then why to make it worse for airline crew and passengers. Request come up with a policy .POLICY PRECEEDS ACTION," he added.
Notably, dense fog enveloped parts of the Delhi-NCR this morning, reducing visibility to zero and delaying more than 150 flights and about 26 trains. Flight delays averaged 41 minutes, aviation website FlightRadar24 said. Delhi's minimum temperature was recorded at 9.6 degrees Celsius, per IMD.
The Delhi Airport has issued an advisory for the passengers stating that flight departures and arrivals from Delhi Airport have been affected. "Passengers are requested to contact their concerned airline for updated flight information," the statement read.
