Recurrent fog disruptions indicate gross mismanagement of Indian aviation

Dense winter fog over vast parts of north India has severely hit aviation across the country. On Tuesday, over 250 flights were delayed, 19 cancelled and seven flights meant to land in Delhi were diverted to other airports. With foggy airspace over the national capital, commuters in other parts of the country too felt the cascading effects of delayed connecting flights. While officials blamed sudden advent of fog for the chaos, it's difficult to understand the lack of preparedness. Winter fog conditions in north India are an annual phenomenon and shouldn't catch airlines and airport authorities unawares. Yet, every year commuters have to put up with flight delays during winter, leading to substantial losses to the economy.

Given the country's growing aviation sector, such mismanagement is unacceptable. In fact, for India to emerge as an aviation hub it must inject a sense of professionalism into its airlines industry. For this each cog of the aviation business must work in harmony. Clearly that is not the case at present. A US Federal Aviation Administration audit in September found 33 deficiencies with India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This had even raised prospects of a downgrade by the former. Similarly, the country also faces a significant shortage of quality pilots, forcing airlines to hire foreign flight commanders. This in turn has forced carriers to cut costs elsewhere, especially in the safety upgrade department.
Read News in full 19/12/13 Times of India