Stuck on a delayed flight? You might not have to suffer through it anymore!

BCAS issued a directive on March 30th, 2024, allowing airlines to deplane passengers on flights delayed due to weather, medical emergencies, technical issues, or other unforeseen circumstances

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which oversees aviation safety in India, just issued a new rule for situations where flights are significantly delayed. The rule allows  passengers to disembark the aircraft and move to the departure terminal if their flight gets delayed due to bad weather, medical emergencies onboard, or technical issues. This replaces the previous practice of keeping passengers confined inside the plane for potentially long periods.

When it applies: If your flight is delayed due to bad weather, a medical emergency onboard, technical problems, or other unforeseen circumstances.

What happens: Passengers can be deplaned and brought back to the airport terminal instead of being stuck inside the airplane.

Who's responsible: Airports need to have the proper facilities for re-screening passengers before they can re-enter the secure area.

This aims to reduce passenger discomfort during long delays, especially in crowded planes.

Important things to note:

1. This rule is new (as of March 30, 2024) and airports are still preparing for it.
2. The final call on deplaning passengers rests with the airline and security forces if the airline is hesitant.
3. In case of aircraft change after passengers have boarded, the baggage will be shifted directly from the existing plane to the new one.

This move aims to alleviate passenger discomfort caused by flight delays. Passengers often complain of being stuck in crowded airplanes for hours after boarding, waiting for takeoff. The new guidelines aim to ease this frustration by allowing passengers to wait in a more spacious environment within the terminal.

February 2024 saw over 1.5 million passengers affected by flight delays, with nearly 30,000 cancellations.  Furthermore, airlines received over 790 passenger complaints in that month alone, many related to baggage, refunds, and customer service.

On January 17, BCAS had slapped fines totalling Rs 1.80 crore on IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident of passengers having food on the airport tarmac.

A penalty of Rs 1.20 crore has been imposed on IndiGo, while the fine on MIAL is Rs 60 lakh.

Many passengers rushed out of an IndiGo aircraft at the Mumbai airport, sat on the tarmac, and some were also seen having food there as soon as their diverted Goa-Delhi flight landed after a long delay on January 14.

Domestic air traffic is on the rise and around 3,500 flights take-off every day.