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QOTD: Grounded by the fog?
Published on Wed, Jan 03, 2007 at 09:09, Updated at Fri, Jun 15, 2007 in Nation section
Tags: Face The Nation, Fog , New Delhi
GROUND REALITY: The passenger’s convenience doesn’t fit in a scenario as the profit margins get squeezed then.
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New Delhi: It’s that time of the year again when your travel plans go haywire all because of fog. It has almost become an annual ritual of sorts now, where around this time every year, flights and trains are delayed, passengers get stuck, and no one has any clear answers to give.
Some solutions have been provided for airlines, like advanced navigation systems, better training for pilots, but the ground reality is just not changing. There are more planes, more passengers, and even more trouble in the skies.
The question that was discussed on CNN-IBN's Face the Nation was, Is the indifference of airline authorities the real reason for chaos at airports?
On the panel of experts were Chief Operating Officer of Air Deccan, Warwick Brady and Swati Sugandh a passenger who like many others witnessed a harrowing time when it took over 24 hours for her to fly from Patna to Delhi.
Many CNN-IBN citizen journalists shared their experiences and told others on air about how they dealt with crowded airports on a frantic foggy morning.
Citizen journalist Ranjan (Delhi Airport) recounted his story: We arrived at Lucknow airport at around 10:00 hours IST. We were told to sit in the plane, and they kept saying it would take off in 10-15 minutes. But even after two hours it did not take off. Had they at least told us about the delay, we could have planned things accordingly. We know that the airlines can't help the fog situation, but they can at least communicate with the passengers. It took us a record 27 hours to reach Delhi from Bhubaneshwar.
Citizen journalist Bristi Barakati (Delhi Airport) said: The only thing that is seen in the name of ‘special contingency arrangement’ is a temporary lounge provided by the airport authorities. But even that is filled up with travelers spending sleepless nights in the cold. Fog happens every year, but it's sad that authorities do not plan any thing to meet with the crisis. Wish they could have at least provided a little more refreshment to the passengers.
Citizen Journalist Swati Sugandh: We were told that the flight is scheduled to depart at 0900 hrs IST. It was first delayed till 1330 hours IST, and was then eventually cancelled. We finally boarded the flight at 1600 hrs IST in the evening only to realise that it had been directed towards Lucknow due to bad weather. We kept waiting at the Lucknow airport till 2200 hrs IST in the night. There was utter chaos. I finally reached Delhi at around 1700 hours in the evening on Tuesday - over 24 hours of journey between Patna and Delhi.
Citizen Journalists at Airport | ||
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| Ranjan tells his nightmarish experience as it took a record 27 hours for him to reach Delhi from Bhubaneshwar. | Delhi airport was jammed with stranded passengers. Most flights were delayed/cancelled due to fog. | Bristi Barakati says in the name of ‘special contingency arrangement’ only a temporary lounge has been provided by the airport authorities. |
Lack of information adds to fracas
Why is it so difficult for the airlines to provide regular information to passengers?
The entire process of giving information to passengers has been outsourced by many airlines. You have a helpline number, but because of the heavy demand, most of the times it’s jammed.
Swati who spent over 24 hours on frantic landings and a repeatedly rescheduled flight says that she was neither informed nor provided with any refreshments by the airline authorities. “None of the passenger get any message on any information of the flight. We didn’t get any phone calls either,” she said.
The Central Government has also taken a very strong view of the disruption and lack of communication taking place at the airports.
There have been demands that made to the Director-General of Civil Aviation with expectations if the DGCA could play a proactive role. Many meetings have been held between the airline operators and the DGCA to work out a common list of instructions - a set of rules to be followed by all airlines in stances of flight disruptions.
But the response of Kanu Gohain, the director general himself was a dampener itself.
“As a regulator, I can only counsel the airlines and keep persuading them. However, I cannot be a policeman as I do not have the legal authority to take penal action against erring airlines," Gohain was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Should airlines be fined for lack of communication in case of flight disruptions?
Has the time now come that the airlines should start taking responsibility for the inconvenience caused to the passengers?
“I completely disagree with the idea of airlines being fined for flight disruptions. It’s our job to look after our passengers so that they come back and fly with us again. We are on our way to improving the customer service considerably,” said Warren Brady.
The ground reality is that the low cost airlines are reluctant to spend more on passenger facilities. The bottom line for these airlines is higher profit margins while the passenger’s convenience doesn’t fit in a scenario as the profit margins are being squeezed all the time.
“Air Deccan is a low cost carrier. We cannot afford to put people in five-star hotels but what we can afford is to provide with friendly customer service,” admits Brady.
Comfort or cost effectiveness?
Chief Operating Officer Air Deccan made tall claims about the excellent customer service arrangements at the airport, but declined to comment much when confronted with the ground situation.
“Being Indian’s second largest airline, we are absolutely committed to providing customers excellent service. We have been working for the past six-months preparing for the fog. We made arrangements to meet all sorts of contingencies,” Warwick Brady said.
“We are going through this phase when we are faced with severe disruptions. Our management team has been working very hard. We had over 180 passengers in Allahbad that we actually provided hotel rooms because the flights were cancelled. When visibility goes below 50 meters, even the best systems in the world are not of to help to get a timely landing and take off,” he added.
Nobody is debating the fact that when fog brings down visibility to poor levels, there is nothing that even the best systems in the world can do. But what about giving regular information to those who are traveling? When it comes to timely communication, even the big airline companies fail to provide any.
“We SMS all the passengers about their flight changes. But this time due to the New Year occasion, even the service providers were faced with congestion in the network. The SMS might have been delayed due to that. We have our 24-hours call centre that provides travelers with timely information. We provide unlimited cookies and coffee at the airport,” said Warwick Brady.
On being asked if he is satisfied with all that the airline has been doing for the passengers, Brady admitted that the airline still needs advanced systems to cope with the problem in a better way.
“We apologise for the inconvenience that has been caused to the passengers. I would like to tell people that we are trying our level best to improve the passenger experience and lessen the disruption to the passengers and make sure they reach their destination with the least amount of disruption.”
No matter what the airline officials say, ground reality remained discomfortingly for the passengers stranded in the cold weather at the airports.
“We don’t blame the airline companies because it’s all due to bad weather. But they should at least provide heaters or may be blankets for passengers who have to spend the night at the airport in this cold,” said one passenger at the Delhi Airport.
SMS Poll Result: Is the indifference of airline authorities the real reason for chaos at airports?
78 per cent of the viewers agreed that it is indeed the indifferent attitude of the airlines staff that attributes to a larger share of the problem than just the natural reasons.
22 per cent did not agree
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