DGCA issues show cause notice to Air India over passenger discomfort caused by long flight delays | Business News
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday issued a show cause notice to Air India over recent incidents of long flight delays in which passengers ostensibly faced significant discomfort, which the regulator said were in violation of various norms prescribed by it.
In the notice, the aviation regulator quoted two specific incidents of inordinate delays of long-haul flights from the past week. Sources in the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that the notice was issued after Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia took cognisance of delays and passenger inconvenience. This came after a number of affected passengers had taken to social media to share their plight.
“Whereas, it has come to the notice of DGCA that flight Al-179 (Mumbai to San Francisco) dated 24.05.2024 and flight Al-183 (Delhi to San Francisco) dated 30.05.2024 were inordinately delayed and passengers were put to discomfort due to insufficient cooling in the cabin. Further, repeated incidences of passengers being put to discomfort by M/s Air India in violation of various DGCA CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) provisions have come to notice,” the regulator said in the notice.
According to accounts of a few passengers on AI-183, which was scheduled to depart at around 3:30 pm on Thursday, they were made to board the aircraft even as the air conditioning was not working. The passengers were later deplaned after some of them allegedly fainted inside the aircraft due to insufficient cooling inside the plane.
After hours of delay at the airport, Air India provided passengers accommodation for the night, with the flight being rescheduled for Friday. The flight had not taken off by 9pm.
In the notice, the DGCA also observed that Air India is “time and again failing” in taking due care of passengers and compliance of the CAR pertaining to facilities to be provided to passengers in cases of boarding denials, flight cancellations, and delays in flights. Air India has so far not commented on the show cause notice.
“Now, therefore M/s Air India is hereby called upon to Show Cause as to why enforcement action shall not be initiated against the airline for the aforesaid violation. The reply of M/s Air India should reach this office within 03 days from the date of issue of this notice, failing which, the matter would be processed ex-parte,” the regulator said in the notice.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
