Three airlines face fine for pilots

New Delhi: Acting tough, aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday took penal action against three airlines by taking away six landing slots at the Delhi airport for not using pilots trained to land in foggy conditions and not equipping aircraft with mandatory devices to negate the effect of fog, resulting in diversion of flights.

The six slots — two each of IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways — were withdrawn after an equal number of flights of these airlines were diverted due to fog since last evening till the wee hours on Thursday, DGCA sources told PTI, adding that the withdrawal of slots has been done with “immediate effect”.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier this month issued a stern warning to airlines to deploy pilots trained to fly under foggy conditions and aircraft fitted with devices to match CAT-III Instrument Landing System (ILS) in Delhi or face severe action. 

DGCA’s meeting with the airlines and airport operators was held on January 7, two days after 53 flights were diverted out of fog-hit Delhi to nearby destinations. The largescale diversion was caused mainly due to the airlines operating planes with pilots not trained to land in foggy conditions or the aircraft not fitted with CAT-III ILS-matching devices.

On Wednesday, visibility at the IGI Airport had started dropping after 5.30 pm and the Runway Visual Range started reducing around 8.30 pm, the sources said, adding that this trend was brought to the notice of all the airlines.

However, in spite of repeated efforts, two flights each of Jet Airways, Go Air and IndiGo were diverted from Delhi to Jaipur, they said, adding that by not adhering to DGCA directives, the airlines had violated several sections of the Civil Aviation Regulations.