IGIA CAT III runway ‘unfortunately-timed’; will add more CAT III pilots’: AI chief Wilson

NEW DELHI: Air India will build a “larger pool of CAT III pilots” and is assessing “how to better cope” with flight disruptions caused by dense fog annually which this winter have been aggravated severalfold by Delhi Airport’s main CAT III runway being shut since last September. AI MD & CEO Campbell Wilson on Thursday termed IGIA’s continued closure of the main runway 28/10 as “unfortunately timed”. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has not been able to operationalise this airstrip due to some electric issues remaining unresolved and several deadlines to do so have lapsed. The badly required main runway 28/10 still remains closed even as the fog season is going to end soon.
“…we’re in the ‘thick’ (so to speak) of an unusually bad fog season (in north India). This, coupled with the unfortunately-timed closure of one of Delhi’s two ‘low-visibility’ runways for repair, has significantly impacted all airlines’ operations, with consequential effect on staff and, of course, customers,” Wilson said.
“As fog will recur in future seasons and airport/airway congestion will only increase, our operations team is assessing how to better cope, such as by building a larger pool of CAT3 crew, better roster planning and schedule buffers and, where necessary, more pre-emptive flight cancellations. In the meantime, I’d like to acknowledge everyone’s efforts in helping our customers under often difficult circumstances,” he added.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had on Jan 17 fined SpiceJet and Air India Rs 30 lakh each for “failing to comply with instructions regarding rostering of (CAT III) pilots.” The DGCA had on Nov 6, 2023, had asked airlines to deploy pilots trained to take off and land in low visibility during foggy period. “The flight delay / cancellation / diversion related data submitted by scheduled airlines for December 2023 was analysed in DGCA and it was found that SpiceJet and Air India did not roster CAT II/III and LVTO (low visibility take off) qualified pilots for some of the flights and thus they failed to comply with the directions issued…. both the airlines were imposed fine of Rs 30 lakh each for the violation and non-compliance (of rules,” the DGCA official had said in a statement.
Officials in Delhi Airport had said 58 IGIA-bound flights were diverted between the midnights of Dec 24 and 28, 2023. “Of these, 50 flights diverted (see list) because their captains were not trained to operate in low visibility conditions,” airport sources had said. Subsequently the DGCA had verified this with data from airlines and air traffic control.