Flight Delayed? Airlines Must Provide Snacks And Meals Under New DGCA Rules

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has recently made it mandatory for all airlines to provide refreshments during delays. According to the new changes, in flight delays that last for two to four hours, beverages and snacks should be made available for consumption to passengers; whereas, in cases of delays that go beyond four hours, passengers are required to be provided with meals.

Flight Delayed? Airlines Must Provide Snacks And Meals Under New DGCA Rules

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This winter is already proving disruptive in northern India because of low visibility conditions. The new provisions can only bring relief to travellers.

According to the guideline, any flight that has been delayed for two to four hours will serve passengers tea or coffee with some snacks, and for flights on delay for periods longer than four hours, the airline should offer meals. Otherwise, for a delay period of up to two hours, water should be provided by the respective airlines to the passengers.

The measures mentioned above are to allow the comfort of the passengers rather than for unforeseen contingencies at the airports, said the Aviation Ministry. The Ministry further intends that the overall experience of passengers should be improved by being concerned about their needs during long waits.

Flight delays are one of the most common realities in the industry. This can affect the entire network of an airline on that day. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has taken an initiative further in the direction of being passenger-friendly because of this. It has now provided a seamless re-entry to the passengers stuck on the aircraft because of weather or technical delays, thus ensuring a smoother way to re-board them when flights resume business.

Drills are also being carried out to ensure readiness for what is expected to be a seamless re-boarding when flights resume.

The advisory comes as the city enters its fog season that generally starts from early December. The phenomenon often brings with it a lot of air travel disruptions owing to poor visibility. Just a week out of that, bad weather affected 15 flights and delayed another over 100 across several hours during which thousands of travelers were harried.

As such, the DGCA's guidelines provide relief in terms of both the 'advisory on customer rights' as well as the airlines' specific plans for managing the congestion that such an undue circumstance creates. By adopting these efforts, one can expect a really smoother travel experience for passengers during the period of sudden delay.

Truly, this is one proactive initiative from the aviation sector to reflect an understanding of what the people need, especially during the winter travels.