New Delhi, Jan 18 (Representative) Airlines have been under fire for delayed flights due to the dense fog in North India and mistreatment of fliers. Several shocking incidents have been reported, and a flier was arrested for assaulting the aircraft’s pilot while he was announcing delays. Several Bollywood celebrities, including Radhika Apte and Richa Chadha, have also shared their flight delay or airport nightmare on Twitter. IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India have all come under the radar of India’s aviation regulator for flouting rules amid the rampant flight delays. IndiGo received a fine of ₹ 1.2 crore, while SpiceJet and Indigo were fined ₹ 30 lakh by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday. Low-budget carrier IndiGo was fined ₹ 1.2 crore for five violations, including its passengers eating on the tarmac as they waited for their flight to take off. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media, attracting severe criticism for IndiGo. Calling it a “violation of apron discipline”, the DGCA said, “It came to the notice of the DGCA through social media that on January 15, passengers of two IndiGo flights were on the apron for a considerable period at the CSMI Airport, Mumbai (MIAL). This violates Para 5 of DGCA Air Safety circular 04 of 2007 which directs all agencies working at the airport not to permit walking on an active apron. The presence of passengers on the apron for a considerable period violates apron discipline as it jeopardised the safety of the passengers and the aircraft.”
IndiGo has been asked to pay the penalty – the highest imposed on airlines in recent times – within 30 days. Both SpiceJet and Air India have been fined ₹ 30 lakhs for flouting fog-preparedness. The regulator found the airlines guilty of not having rostered Category-III trained pilots who can fly in low visibility conditions. Every year, the DGCA conducts meetings with airlines and airport operators before the winter. The meetings are aimed at reviewing the fog-preparedness. The regulator said that both SpiceJet and Air India did roster CAT-III qualified pilots on their roster despite the guidelines issued during the meeting on November 6, 2023. “SpiceJet and Air India did not roster CAT II/III and LVTO-qualified pilots for some of the flights and thus failed to comply with the directions issued. This also constituted a violation of the relevant Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR),” the statement said. “Based on these violations and non-compliance with DGCA directives, show-cause notices were issued to SpiceJet and Air India on January 2,” it added. The fines were imposed after analysing the flight delay/cancellation/diversion data for December 2023.