Indian aviation is undoubtedly headed for a change, and we don't just mean recovery from the pandemic. The country's aviation watchdog, the DGCA, has been quite swift in reacting to several passenger complaints lately regarding the substandard conditions of many aircraft in the country. And the latest Air India incident has drawn out another directive from the agency that is sure to make Indian passengers happy.
"Stop selling unserviceable seats!"
On Tuesday, the DGCA sent a warning to Indian carriers that sell tickets for seats not in a condition to be used during flights. The agency is trying to stop the practice that doesn't consider passenger comfort and safety and lets the airlines off the hook easily for not maintaining their aircraft.
Rules laid down by the DGCA state that all materials, including the aircraft seat, need to conform to approved design specifications, and airlines cannot sell seats to customers that do not meet specifications. The statement by the authorities also added that the installation of any part that fails to meet the intended design requirements degrades the requirements of airworthiness.
In a communication to all Indian carriers, the DGCA said,
“This practice is not only causing inconvenience to the travellers but is also inviting a serious safety concern … it is hereby advised to ensure that airlines shall not book passengers beyond the serviceable seats meeting the approved design specification available in the aircraft, released for scheduled services. Any non-compliance in this regard shall be viewed seriously.”
The flight that triggered the reaction
On May 24th, passengers booked on a London-bound Air India flight from New Delhi were inconvenienced by several hours of delay and chaos over seat allocation on account of some seats not "working." A passenger booked on the flight (AI 161) told the Hindustan Times that business class passengers were downgraded due to the chaos, and some could not even fly as "their seats were not working."
This brought to the surface the long-standing issue of airlines overbooking the flights – in this case with unserviceable seats – which has prompted the DGCA to take a stand, stating that non-compliance in this regard shall be viewed seriously.
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Air India said the chaos was primarily because of the delay caused by the previous day's bad weather in Delhi, which led to several flight diversions and cancellations. Several connecting passengers on AI 161 could not make it on time as their flights had not landed in Delhi due to the weather. The Boeing 787 finally took off several hours later, when the crew couldn't wait any longer for fear of hitting the maximum flying time limit.
Much-needed changes
It's good to see the DGCA holding airlines accountable for such missteps. Most passengers in India have had similar experiences, or know someone who has, when the airline seat wasn't "quite right" or the tray table was precariously hanging.
In the last few weeks, several instances have prompted the DGCA to take notice of scruffy airplane interiors and hand out warnings to airlines to get their act together. In Air India's case, the problems predate its privatization. As such, the Tata Group will need some time to clean up the large number of airplanes that the Indian government left in such dire conditions. Hopefully, we'll see some signs of improvement in the coming months.
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Source: Hindustan Times