Appropriately sensitise staff at airports to inform passengers on flight delays: DGCA tells airlines
New Delhi, Jan 15: Aviation watchdog DGCA on Monday asked airlines to publish accurate real-time information regarding flight delays and appropriately sensitise staff at airports to suitably communicate with passengers amid fog-related disruptions at airports.
Against the backdrop of a significant number of flights getting delayed and cancelled and passengers facing tough times, the regulator has come out with a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said all stakeholders are working round-the-clock to minimise fog-related disruptions in flight operations and that DGCA will come out with SOPs to ensure "better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations and delays due to adverse weather".
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday said that airlines should be required to publish accurate real-time information regarding delays in their flights.
There should also be appropriate sensitisation of the airline staff at the airports to suitably communicate with and continuously guide and inform the passengers about flight delays, according to a release.
This also comes amid an incident of a passenger assaulting an IndiGo pilot as he was making a flight delay announcement onboard an aircraft that was bound for Goa. The incident happened at the Delhi airport on Sunday.
"In view of the prevalent fog season and adverse weather conditions, airlines may cancel, sufficiently in advance, such flights that are anticipated to be delayed or consequentially delayed on account of such conditions beyond a period of 3 hours with a view to obviate congestion at the airport and mitigate passenger inconvenience," DGCA said.
The SOPs have been issued in view of the "fog-induced disruptions and adverse weather conditions at various airports, including Delhi airport, causing delays, cancellations and inconvenience to passengers", an official release said.
The regulator has Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) pertaining to 'facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights'.
The airlines are also required to publish the reference of the CAR on the flight tickets, as per the release.
The CAR was issued to ensure appropriate protection for air travellers in case of flight disruptions and, in particular, denied boardings, flight cancellations and delays without due notice to the passengers booked on the flight(s).
"It is, accordingly, obligatory on the part of all airlines to mandatorily adhere to the provisions of the above CAR.
"However, in case of Force Majeure events i.e. extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the airline, the provisions of the above CAR are not applicable," the release said.
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Rape-accused 'godman' Kharat sent to judicial custody till April 14
Nashik (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Nashik on Wednesday remanded rape-accused self-styled godman Ashok Kharat in a 14-day judicial custody.
Kharat was arrested on March 18 after a 35-year-old woman accused him of repeated rape over a period of three years. Following his arrest, multiple rape complaints were filed against him.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) is conducting a probe against Kharat.
As his police custody ended on Wednesday, he was produced before the court. During the hearing, the SIT sought his judicial custody.
Accordingly, sessions judge B N Ichpurani remanded Kharat in judicial custody till April 14. He will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail.
Kharat is scheduled to be produced in a court in another case on Thursday.
At least 10 FIRs, eight for alleged sexual assault or exploitation and two for cheating, have been registered against Kharat at Sarkarwada police station in Nashik, while the SIT has received more than 100 complaints over the phone against him.
On Wednesday, an SIT team detained Kharat's son Harshvardhan for questioning from their residence in Karmayogi Nagar here. He was let off at night.
The investigators are also trying to trace Kharat's wife Kalpana in connection with the probe against her husband. She is also named in a cheating case in Ahilyanagar district.
'Godman' Kharat heads a temple trust at Sinnar in Nashik and had several political leaders visit him over the years.
Last week, the SIT visited Kharat's office in Nashik along with a forensic science team, from where they recovered several documents, files and other evidence.
Notably, a 20-feet remote-controlled mechanised snake was also seized from his office. Kharat allegedly used the snake to make his visitors believe that he could control a live snake and thus possessed supernatural powers.
