New Delhi: The aviation regulator- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will issue standard operating procedures (SOPs) for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise their discomfort when flights are cancelled or delayed because of adverse weather, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday.

“The DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays due to adverse weather,” he stated.

The minister posted on X about various steps taken by the stakeholders to mitigate passenger inconvenience and asked them to “bear” with them.

“It is my earnest request to all travellers to bear with us during this difficult period. All stakeholders are trying their best to minimise passenger inconvenience. I would like to assure everyone that all stakeholders are working round the clock to minimise the fog-related impact,” he said.

This comes after Delhi witnessed unprecedented fog on Sunday and visibility fluctuated for several hours, at times dropping to zero between 5 am to 9 am: As a result, at least 400 flights were delayed and others were diverted or cancelled.

“The authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem,” Scindia said.

Also Read: Fog in Delhi: 10 flights diverted, 20 cancelled, 400+ delayed

While many netizens took to X to post about their ordeal, one incident stood out. The incident involved a passenger who hit a pilot of a Goa Bound IndiGo flight as the latter was announcing a flight delay caused by foggy conditions.

While IndiGo said that they designated the passenger “unruly”, handed over to the local law enforcement agencies and referred the incident to an independent internal committee, Scindia wrote: “Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions”.

Delhi Airport has four near-parallel runways: 11R/29L, 11L/29R, 10/28, 3,813 and runway 09/27. However, only the fourth runway: 29R/ 11L is capable of handling flights during poor visibility. Runway 29L/ 11R, which can also handle flights during fog is being refurbished and not operational.

Scindia said that as a step to mitigate the situation in the near future, he has asked Delhi airport to immediately expedite the operationalisation of the CAT III-enabled fourth runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the DGCA, in order to get approvals.

Addressing the issue raised by netizens on passengers’ discomfort in aircraft during long delays, Scindia said, “The DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays due to adverse weather.”