PremiumThe aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a notice to SpiceJet Airways seeking a report into an incident where passengers who were bound to Bengaluru had to wait for more than an hour over the aerobridge at Delhi Airport.
The incident is reported to be occurred on 10 January and the airline already released a statement on the matter which said that the reason for the incident is weather disruption due to which the incoming crew exceeded their time limit.
"SpiceJet flight SG 8133 (Delhi-Bengaluru) dated 10 January 2023 was delayed on account of weather disruption in the network and the aircraft's previous rotation. As a result, the incoming crew was not legal to operate the subsequent flight to Bengaluru the and crew was arranged from another incoming flight which was legal as per duty time limitation," SpiceJet spokesperson said.
The average turnaround time of a Boeing aircraft at Delhi Airport is 40-45 minutes, but for this particular flight, the turnaround time was 20 minutes more than the average turnaround time.
"As passengers had completed the security check they were requested to wait at the aerobridge. All passengers on the said flight were provided service recovery vouchers," the spokesperson added.
The matter came to light after a passenger shared the video of the waiting line, in which some passengers were also asking for water.
"I understand that sometimes flight gets delayed. But making the passengers cross the Boarding gate, then closing the flight gates and not letting your passengers go beyond any of these 2 ways, and locking them up in the middle is not cool," the passenger wrote on Instagram along with the video.
"When passengers asked to open the boarding gate so that they can rest back at the waiting area, the authorities denied it and went missing, when senior citizens asked for water because they were locked in there for more than an hour and had no water, the authorities didn't give them water and told them to ask for water in the flight once the gates are open. And when people asked them how much tentative time would it take for that- they had no answer. Who treats their customers like this?" the passenger added.
Owing to the recent cases of violations by the airlines while reporting incidents or unclear communication on the service disruption, the aviation regulator is keeping a close watch on all such cases and is flagging even small violations.
Especially after the Air India ‘pee-gate’ case, the DGCA is doing some strict posturing with the airlines to ensure that no similar kind of incident occurs in the future.
(With inputs from ANI)