After Fog Chaos New Directive to Airlines: Cancel Flight If Delayed

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday released new guidelines to address the chaotic situations witnessed at Delhi airport on Sunday due to dense fog. In the standard operating procedure (SOP) titled "Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines in cases of denied boarding, flight cancellations, and delays," the DGCA stated that airlines are permitted to cancel flights anticipated to face delays or significant delays exceeding three hours.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation directed all airlines to implement the SOP at the earliest.

Earlier today, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared some SOPs for airlines that were forced to divert or delay flights due to dense fog conditions in the national capital.

In a post on the micro-blogging site X, formerly Twitter, Scindia said, "Yesterday, Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero between 5 AM to 9 AM. The authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shutdown of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem."

Key SOPs Announced by Ministry Of Civil Aviation:

Real-time information: The Civil Aviation Ministry has directed the airlines to share real-time details regarding flight delays through diverse communication channels. The Ministry asked airlines to publish these websites on their websites and send regular updates to passengers through SMS/WhatsApp and email.

Proper Communication: The Ministry told Airline staff to effectively communicate, guide, and continuously inform passengers about flight status and delays, if any.

Cancellation policies: The Ministry directed Airlines to cancel flights that may be delayed up to three hours due to adverse weather conditions. These small steps may help passengers a lot and prevent congestion at airports.