"Can't Keep Passengers Waiting Indefinitely": Minister On Air India Delay

Airport operators and airlines have to be customer-oriented and making passengers wait for eight hours, be in a plane or the terminal, is unacceptable, Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said.

Speaking to NDTV in an exclusive interview, Mr Scindia said he was only reinforcing the message sent in December 2022. Customers, he added, should be kept abreast of developments and given a choice to continue their flight or not, whatever problems the airline is facing.

The minister's comments come in the backdrop of the 20-hour delay in a San Francisco-bound Air India flight yesterday, that saw passengers being made to wait inside an aircraft despite the absence of air-conditioning. Amid the unprecedented heat wave currently on in the national capital, many passengers were taken ill.

Visuals from the airport showed many passengers lying down along an aerobridge corridor. Others complained about fainting inside the plane. The plane is yet to take off and the passengers have been offered a refund . The airline has received a showcause notice from the ministry.

"If the flight delay extends beyond a period of time, then you must cancel the flight and reschedule and thereby alleviate the sufferings of passengers," the minister told NDTV today.

"If any passenger has to wait for eight hours -- and mind you the time is enough for a Mumbai-London flight or a Delhi-London flight -- waiting inside the aircraft with no air-conditioning or waiting inside the terminal with no facilities, unfortunately that is unacceptable to me," he added.

"Even in light of a CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) being issued last winter, where we clearly said that any delay between beyond three hours is unacceptable, the airline must look after the passengers, feed them, put them up," he added.

In January, the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) had issued guidelines to handle chaotic situations at airports after the Delhi airport saw huge rushes due to fog.

The DGCA said airlines may cancel flights that are likely to be delayed or "consequentially delayed" beyond three hours. This procedure could be followed by all airlines, the DGCA had said.