Civil Aviation Minister Naidu chairs review meeting with airlines on preparedness for winter fog

Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu chairing a meeting on winter fog situation. Pic/X

Union Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday chaired a comprehensive review meeting to assess airline preparedness for the winter-fog season.

To make sure that Indian aviation remains smooth during the winter season, Ram Mohan Naidu, while posting on social media handle X, wrote, "Chaired a comprehensive review meeting today to assess preparedness for the upcoming fog window of the winter schedule with all key stakeholders, including DGCA, AAI, airport operators, airlines and CISF. All stakeholders have been instructed to ensure full compliance, fix accountability and implement strict SOPs for fog operations."

The Union Civil Aviation Minister further wrote that, "To maintain smooth operations, emphasis has to be laid on real-time data exchange, activation of war rooms and deployment of CAT-II/III compliant aircraft with qualified crew. Clear directions have been issued to ensure safe, seamless and well-coordinated operations, along with timely communication of updates to passengers to help them prepare well in advance. Each and every passenger is important, and any instance of inconvenience will be addressed with clear accountability."

Earlier, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday sacked four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) in connection with the recent IndiGo flight cancellation crisis.

According to the notice issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the four Flight Operation Inspectors who had been dismissed are Rish Raj Chatterjee, Seema Jhamnani, Anil Kumar Pokhariyal, and Priyam Kaushik, reported ANI.

The notice further stated, "Consequent upon approval of the Competent Authority, the following Fols under various categories, on a contract basis, in DGCA are hereby relieved from DGCA with immediate effect to join their respective parent organisations: Rish Raj Chatterjee, Consultant [Dy. CFOI(A)], Seema Jhamnani, SFOI(A), Anil Kumar Pokhariyal, Consultant [FOI(A)], and Priyam Kaushik, Consultant [FOI(A)]."

Meanwhile, a special four-member Committee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will meet with IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers to question the latter on the widespread cancellation of flights in the last week," as cited by news agency ANI.

As per the reports, the four-member committee has been constituted to examine the flight disruptions caused by IndiGo.

The airline, since the last few days, has been creating complete chaos at various airports. While the DGCA has increased scrutiny of the airline following widespread flight cancellations and delays, along with taking several steps to ensure smooth operations, the flight services till Thursday remained disrupted.

(With inputs from ANI)