War rooms" will be set up at six airports in the country to expedite redressal of passengers' grievances arising out of inconveniences, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Tuesday, amid recent incidents of unruly passengers and strikes at airports due to delays caused by fog.
In addition, deployment of sufficient personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be ensured at airports in six metro cities, the civil aviation minister said in a post on X.
This comes a day after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) to airlines on “better communication and facilitation of passengers” affected by cancellations and delays
Among the SOPs issued by the DGCA on Monday included publishing real-time information regarding flight delays on the websites of the airlines concerned, informing affected passengers through WhatsApp messages and email, and sensitising their staff at airports to communicate with passengers.
The move came after Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia instructed DGCA to issue an SOP to airlines on handling passengers affected by cancellations and delays. He also asked aviation authorities to expedite return to service of a runway capable of low-visibility flight operations.
On Sunday, social media was replete with posts by passengers complaining about long delays and cancellations. In one incident, a passenger attacked an IndiGo pilot.