Indian ready with fog contingency plan

New Delhi, Nov 15 (UNI) National carrier Indian said today it is all set to effectively handle its annual tryst with fog this winter.

Foggy conditions over northern India and the resultant low visibility often lead to flight disruptions not only in the north, but across the airline's network.

At a high-level meeting with heads of operational departments, Chairman and Managing Director Vishwapati Trivedi reviewed the preparedness of different departments to tackle fog.

The airline said in a statement tha its endeavour will be to ensure minimum inconvenience to passengers through timely and adequate information about disruption to flights and their subsequent rescheduling.

Indian is the only airline to have a large number of trained pilots to operate in low visibility conditions. It has nearly 400 pilots trained to operate in CAT II/III B conditions, which will help minimise the delays and avoid cancellations.

Its total of 54 aircraft -- 48 A320s and six A319s are ILS compliant.

The airline's 24 X 7 toll free service has been upgraded with advanced software and hardware and additional manpower to ensure that the dissemination of flight information is timely and speedy.

Similarly, the crew roster system has also been upgraded with a view to optimise utilisation of crew. For the first time, the airline has engaged the services of a consulting meteorologist, to help in speedy forecast of weather conditions.

Special control rooms have been set up at the airports at all major bases to plan and implement the fog contingency plans, Indian said in a statement.

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