The Hon’ble Delhi High Court has granted stay order on the verdict passed by Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) against GoAir to award compensation of Rs 15,000/- to each passenger of a cancelled flight by a Bench comprising Hon’ble Justice Pradeep Nandrajog. 

Delhi State Commission while dismissing the appeal at admission stage enlarged the scope by passing the order without issuing notice to the Petitioner. The SCDRC had also failed to take into consideration various aspects such as the fact that the Complainant had not provided his contact number for the purpose of any communication and had not taken into account the terms and conditions of contract of travel. The SCDRC Order also stated that the complainant’s ticket was cancelled by the airline, as he failed to confirm the departure time of the flight, which was not true.

 It should be noted that GoAir had taken all necessary steps to inform the passenger about the flight cancellation through the travel agent with whom the complainant had booked the tickets. This is because the passenger had given the travel agent’s contact number as the contact number on which the complainant should be contacted. According to set procedures followed by GoAir, the airline had communicated the flight cancellation on this number. Moreover, as a standard operating procedure, in case of a flight cancellation on account of conditions beyond the control of GoAir, the affected passengers are given the options of free re-bookings on GoAir flights on the next scheduled GoAir service on the same sector. Those customers who are unwilling to avail the free re-booking facility are provided with the option of a full-refund for their bookings as paid by the passenger.

 It should also be noted that airport infrastructure in India has not been able to keep pace with the growth in airline passenger traffic resulting in congestion and continued bottlenecks in-air and on-ground which are major contributors towards flight delays and flight cancellations. Any problem at any end of the network triggers a chain reaction disrupting the entire service. The SCDRC in its ruling had not considered these issues which result in delay and cancellation of flights.
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GoAir to fly all its fog-flights with CAT-III compliant pilots

Mumbai December 7, 2007: As part of its Fog strategy, GoAir will ensure that all its Fog-destination flights will be flown by CAT-III compliant pilots. According to the current published schedule of the airline, on a daily basis, GoAir requires eight sets of CAT III compliant flying crew. GoAir will have 12 sets of CAT III compliant flying crew ready. Each set will comprise of one CAT III compliant Pilot-In-Command (PIC) and one CAT III compliant Co-Pilot.

It should be noted that there are special authorizations prescribed by DGCA for pilots involved in CAT-III operations (related to fog). GoAir pilots operating flights in Fog conditions adhere to these prescribed regulations. The prescribed CAT III regulations specify that the Pilot-In-Command (PIC) should have a total flying experience of 2500 hours out of which 500 hours for initial authorization, 200 hours for additional aircraft type authorization, 100 night flying hours, 100 hours on instrument flying including not more than 50 hours on Full Flight Simulator of the type. The regulations prescribed for Co-Pilot includes total flying experience of 750 hours which include 300 hours for initial authorization, 200 hours for additional aircraft type authorization, and 100 hours on instrument flying including not more than 50 hours on Full Flight Simulator of the type.

As part of its other customer service initiatives announced for the Fog season this year, GoAir is ensuring that in case of Fog-related flight delays beyond a specified duration, the airline will provide snacks and refreshments to passengers of the fog-affected flights. It has made arrangements to ensure that there is adequate supply of food & refreshments to be provided to passengers in case of any fog-related emergency.

Commenting on its Fog initiatives, Mr Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir added, “We have also installed a special Fog Helpline to reply to all our passengers’ queries and issues relating to the fog condition and impact. This special helpline can be accessed through our customer care service on 1800-222-111 and 9223222111. We will have a dedicated desk to handle all queries and customer grievances related to the Fog situation.”

GoAir believe that its employees are the airline’s face to the passengers. The customer service initiatives are based on the underlining philosophy that the airline’s employees can empower its passengers in a way that they enhance their travel experience when flying with GoAir. “In line with this philosophy, we have regular training programmes for all our employees, both administrative and ground handling staff aimed at empowering our employees so that they in turn can empower our passengers in the best way possible. During these programmes, our employees are updated on our new initiatives as well as update their skills to serve our passengers better,” said Mr Wadia.

GoAir is also committed to the safety and security of its passengers. In line with this commitment, the airline ensures that its flight crew goes through an intensive training programme of 45 days. Out of these, 35 days are exclusively dedicated for safety training procedures.

GoAir’s cabin crew goes through a formal First Aid training programme for 6 days, Aviation Security (AVSEC) training for 6 days as well as 23 days of Safety and Emergency Procedures (SEP). The DGCA has prescribed SEP training programme of 13 days only, but GoAir’s intensive programme is about 23 days. The SEP training includes a special module to handle disruptive passengers.

Go Airlines (India) Pvt. Ltd. is the aviation foray of the Wadia Group, one of India’s top business houses. The airline operates its services under the brand GoAir. GoAir launched its operations in 2005. GoAir is a low-fare carrier launched with the objective of commoditizing airline travel by offerings airline seats at marginal premium to first class train fares across India. The airline currently operates across 11 destinations in India including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jammu, Jaipur, Chennai and Srinagar.

GoAir is positioned as ‘The Smart People's Airline’. Its captivating theme, ‘Fly Smart’ is aimed at offering passengers a consistent, quality-assured and time-efficient service.  The airline uses the state-of-the-art Airbus A320 aircraft fleet.