Pune flyers see red over regular delays

There seems to be no end in sight to the regular delays in flight take-offs from Pune airport, with Monday seeing as many as eight flights being deferred

There seems to be no end in sight to the regular delays in flight take-offs from Pune airport, with Monday seeing as many as eight flights being deferred.

Flyers facing inconvenience due to delay in flight scheduling. (REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE)

Rohit Rana was among the irate flyers who took to social media to vent their frustration. “Since Diwali, many flights are getting delayed at Pune airport. The airlines and authorities need to take care that such incidents do not take place on a regular basis,” he posted.

Nikita Patel, another regular flyer like Rana, said, “The staff of these airlines are the worst to deal with and not just one airline but nearly all the airlines as they don’t respond properly. I have witnessed my flights getting delayed three to four times in the last couple of months.”

On Monday alone, 66 flights took-off from and 66 flights landed at Pune airport with a total 9,677 flyers taking-off and 11,448 flyers landing at the airport.

Dhairyashil Vandekar, civil aviation analyst, said, “If the flight is delayed or cancelled, the airline staff should inform passengers earlier on than at the last moment. Of late, flight delays appear to be on the rise and the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) should monitor the issue. Since we are going into the winter schedule, it is important for airlines to maintain their schedule and a review should be carried out of the operational capacity to maintain the schedule of the existing flights. From time to time, airport authorities request airlines to maintain the schedule as delays put a strain on the limited airport infrastructure at Pune and result in crowding of the terminal building.”

“The DGCA has a set of CAR (civil aviation regulations) and airlines should adhere to the DGCA CAR with regard to providing facilities to passengers in case of delays and cancellations. A few months’ ago, I had appealed to the civil aviation minister (Jyotiraditya Scindia) to hold a meeting with domestic airlines and ensure that they have an inter-airline passenger transfer agreement amongst them for the domestic sector. So that if there is a delay or cancellation, flyers can be transferred to other flights,” Vandekar said.

Pune airport director Santosh Doke did not respond to calls or messages. Another airport official on request of anonymity said, “Only airlines can specify the actual reason for delays in flights. We have provided all the slots properly to all the airlines.”