NEW DELHI: In a bid to enhance safety for flyers and to improve their travel experience, the Ministry of Civil Aviation will hold a monthly review meeting with the leading airlines in the country, said a senior aviation official. The recent spate of incidents involving different airlines appears to be the rationale behind the decision.
The first such meeting took place on August 5 in Delhi with Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu reviewing the performance of different airlines on the safety front for a six-month period from January 1 to June 30 this year. “Henceforth, the review will be on a monthly basis. Since, it is the first such meeting, the six months were reviewed at one go,” the official added.
“It was made very clear that passenger safety needs to be the No. 1 priority with complete transparency and accountability needed from the airlines on this front. The Ministry will keep an eye on the crew training and maintenance of aircraft by all to ensure there are no lapses of any kind,” a source privy to the meeting said.
Senior employees from Air India, Air India Express, Alliance Air, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa made detailed presentations on multiple aspects about their flight operations, he said. The respective chiefs of the Safety, Operations and Engineering teams of the airlines took part.
“The presentation made by the airlines touched upon the significant findings during their internal audits and action taken, the operational, technical, runway incursion and excursion incidents experienced by them and the mitigation action taken, the training status of staff with respect to safety management system and the status of compliance of airworthiness directives bulletins among other aspects,” the aviation official said.
The number of fatigue reports received from the crew and the issues they raised, the organisation's strength in terms of aircraft, and the training status of staff in terms of safety management system were also revealed by the airlines.
The issue of surging ticket fare prices by the airlines, a frequent complaint by passengers, was also addressed during the meeting. The need to improve amenities provided to passengers in the case of delays or abrupt cancellations was also discussed.
“The airlines also presented details on the defects found and where they stand when compared with the industry average as well as their position during the corresponding period last year,” the official added.
Air India as well as Air India Express sources confirmed their teams participated in the meet, and made a detailed presentation jointly for 45 minutes.