NEW DELHI: Airlines will now have to provide beverages and snacks to passengers when flights are delayed by two to four hours and meals on those delayed beyond four hours. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has advised airlines as low visibility in north India has already started leading to delays this winter. And when a flight is delayed on one sector, it leads to consequential delays on all other routes across the airline’s network the aircraft is to operate that day.
The aviation ministry Friday said on X: “… airlines have been advised to provide facilities to passengers during flight delays. These measures are designed to prioritise passenger convenience during unforeseen disruptions. As per advisory issued by DGCA, airlines (have) to provide drinking water for delays of flight up to two hours; tea or coffee with snacks/refreshments for delays between two and four 4 hours; and meals for delays exceeding four hours.”
“These provisions aim to enhance passenger experience while addressing their basic needs during extended waiting times,” the ministry added.
Apart from this DGCA advisory, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has also addressed one of the biggest issues passengers of delayed flights face every winter — remaining onboard aircraft for hours waiting for it to take off. It has now allowed “smooth re-entry of passengers stranded inside aircraft due to weather or technical delays, minimising inconvenience and facilitating smoother re-boarding when flights resume. A drill of the same by concerned stakeholders is also being carried out,” the aviation ministry had said Wednesday.
Waiting endlessly holed up inside aircraft at foggy airports like Delhi’s IGIA waiting for low visibility to improve has been one of the biggest complaints of passengers for several winters. Earlier airlines didn’t allow passengers of delayed flights to alight as that required them undergoing security checks again before boarding and add to flight delays with the aircraft losing its take off slot in the waiting list. So passengers were kept on board so that the plane can start taxiing as soon as it gets permission to do so for take off when fog lifted. Hopefully that should change this winter with the amended BCAS rule.
