Air India Prepares for Winter Fog: Flight Schedules, CAT-III Pilots

Mumbai, Dec 5 (PTI) Air India on Thursday said it has taken various steps, including adjusting flight schedules, and increasing the number of CAT-III trained pilots, among others, to deal with the issues of fog and poor visibility this winter season.

Fog and poor visibility conditions impact a large number of flights every year, particularly those originating from Northern India.

The Tata Group-owned Air India faced a Rs 30 lakh fine from the DGCA in January this year for not having enough pilots trained to fly in low visibility conditions ahead of the fog season.

"Air India has adjusted flight schedules to minimise disruptions to long haul and metro-to-metro flights with onward connectivity during the fog window. It has also increased the number of CAT-III trained pilots who are certified to land in low visibility operations and CAT-III instrument landing system," Air India said without giving the number of such pilots.

CAT III is an instrument landing system, which enables an aircraft to land in low visibility conditions, where the visibility is as little as 50m. Also, pilots have to be CAT III-compliant to be able to land during dense fog.

DGCA defines the period between December 10 and February 10 as the "fog period", while the window for CAT III operations is between 9pm and 10am.

Among the other mitigating measures, Air India said, it will also deploy additional manpower at the airports including those where flights are likely to be diverted to reduce customers inconvenience in the event of delay or diversions.

The airline said as part of its 'fog care initiative' it will also 'proactively' reach out to the passengers, flying to and from Delhi, informing them about potential delays or cancellations of their flights and offering them complimentary rescheduling of their booking or refund.

The DGCA had imposed a penalty of Rs 10-lakh on Air India's low-cost arm Air India Express for failing to provide compensation to passengers affected by cancelled flights in August this year.