Delhi Airport faced major issues on Sunday, with many flights being redirected, marking one of its worst disruptions.Delhi, as the main hub for four airlines, had a widespread impact on the entire network, resulting in over 500 flight delays, as reported by ET.
The airport, India’s busiest in terms of visitors, faced notable challenges this winter. The closure of runway 28/10 since September has been a major factor. The original plan to reopen the runway by late December has been delayed twice.Consequently, the airport is currently reliant on a single runway, namely 29/11, equipped to manage operations in situations where visibility drops below 200 metres. On Sunday, numerous passengers boarded planes, only to experience prolonged waits inside as there was no authorization for takeoff.
The passengers of AI-185 bound for Vienna endured a nine-hour wait inside the aircraft, ultimately leading to the cancellation of the flight.
So can’t passengers be allowed by an airline to deboard the plane and wait at the airport instead of a cramped space? Multiple factors are to blame for passengers’ plight!
Complex rules slow down the deboarding process, and the competitive nature of the airline industry compels carriers to schedule multiple flights closely together. Airport infrastructure limitations add to the challenges in efficiently managing deboarding during prolonged delays. The aircraft joins the take-off queue based on a first-come-first-serve principle and is allowed to enter a departure sequence only after closing its doors, which follows after the boarding of passengers.
A pilot of a private airline explains “Once I close the doors, I am in the queue. During extreme foggy days when schedules have been disrupted, there can be 100 planes in the queue. If I return to the gate I lose the sequence and delay my passenger even more.”
Airline officials argue that a change in this process is necessary. They propose that the departure sequence number should be assigned based on the scheduled time of departure rather than the boarding status. An executive of a private airline says “If an airline misses the sequence, once fog clears, put them at the bottom of the list.”
Furthermore, even if passengers are deplaned, they are required to return to the arrival terminal and pass through the security enclosure again, as the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) does not permit reverse entry.
The executive said that this takes a lot of time again, forcing further delay. “Why should passengers have to undergo security again? They should wait directly at the gate and board again through the aerobridge or bus,” the executive said.
According to a senior CISF official, allowing reverse entry for passengers poses a potential security risk.
The security hold of the airport is a highly sterilised zone. The airside has ground handling staff, construction workers. Once the passenger deplanes anything can be exchanged between the aircraft and the boarding gate. Hence, there are reservations about this. “Airlines should make their contingency plan in case of extraordinary delay,” he explained.
For example, airlines must deplane passengers if the tarmac delay exceeds four hours in the United States. However, it’s unclear if airport terminals will have enough space if airlines choose to deplane passengers.
An airport executive says that the Terminal 2 of Delhi Airport, during peak hours, handles more passengers than its structural capacity. There will be chaos inside if deplaned passengers come in.
Government officials have stated that they are actively exploring the feasibility of constructing designated zones where departing passengers can wait without the necessity of re-entering the terminal.
