New Delhi, Jan 4:
Flyers have had a better time this winter as compared to earlier years.
An increase of almost 12 per cent in the number of pilots trained to operate
domestic flights in foggy conditions and better communication systems at
airports around the country have meant less inconvenience for flyers.
Till December 31, 2012, the domestic airline industry had over 2,110
pilots capable of operating aircraft in Cat III conditions or in dense fog
conditions compared to about 1,900 such pilots at the end of December 2011. CAT
III conditions are said to prevail at an airport when visibility is under 500 m
and not less than 50 meters.
Incidentally, in 2008, there were just 781 pilots trained in CAT III
landing procedures.
As in the past, the maximum number of CAT III trained pilots are with
Air India (668) followed by Jet Airways (495) and then IndiGo which has 444
such pilots taking up the third spot.
But in the aviation industry, it is not only training of pilots but
hardware on the ground such as the equipment to guide an aircraft and make it
land in low or zero visibility conditions which ensures that passenger
inconvenience is minimised during the foggy period.
Airports around the country have also started holding back aircraft from
departing if weather at the arriving airport is inclement and there are chances
that the flight may not be able to land.
“Apart from the increase in the number of CAT IIII trained pilots,
airlines were asked not to schedule flights from airports that are generally
affected by inclement weather during certain hours of the day to cut down on
passenger inconvenience,” Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Mishra told Business Line.
But despite these endeavours, there have still been reports of delays
and cancellations at Delhi airport.
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