QOTD: Grounded by the fog?

GROUND REALITY: The passenger’s convenience doesn’t fit in a scenario as the profit margins get squeezed then.

        

Other stories in the section:

SP leaders meet PM, keep up the guessing game

Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh will now meet Cong President Sonia Gandhi.

• Holy mess: Protests over Amarnath land justified?

Featured Blog

Geetika Pokhriyal

The Big O of America

Featured Slideshows

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
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.