Come winter and air passengers have to brace themselves for long waits at the airports. Departures are delayed, arrival schedules are thrown out of gear and travel plans of passengers go haywire. Yet, year after year, airlines quote thick fog and poor visibility as conditions beyond their control and escape liability for the consequences of such delays. In this age of communication technology, can they get away with such excuses ?

In one of the first complaints (Indian Airlines vs Rajesh Kumar Upadhyay) filed before the consumer court on the issue, the apex consumer court had pointed out that the airline cannot be held liable for delays caused on account of circumstances beyond its control. And it had explained what constituted force majeure or circumstances beyond the control of the airline. ?Flights may get delayed due to various causes such as poor visibility in the airfield, bad weather, bird hits, tyre burst while landing or take-off, sudden strike by any crucial section of airlines staff, etc., all of which may be factors beyond the control of the airlines. In such cases the delay cannot ordinarily be attributed to negligence on the part of the airlines??. There may, however, be other instances where the delay in operating a flight might have been caused by reason of negligence on the part of the airline staff. In such cases, a consumer can get compensation for the consequences of such delay, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had said.

This order, however, was passed more than a decade ago and I?m sure the courts will now examine what constitutes ?poor visibility? in the light of technical advances vis-?-vis landing and take-off of aircraft in foggy weather conditions. Today, it would be ridiculous to describe delays caused by fog as ?circumstances beyond the control of the airline? except in extreme weather conditions.

In order to determine if there is any negligence on the part of the airline, the court has to look at the level of preparedness of the airline as well as the Airports Authority of India to overcome the problems faced by inclement weather conditions. Has the airline equipped its fleet with state-of the-art communication and navigation facilities so as to take off and land in foggy weather conditions? Are the pilots trained to use them? What about the facilities at the airport? All the issues having a direct bearing on the safety and efficiency of the service have to be examined critically and those who have failed to provide the necessary technological back-up should be hauled up. So long as this is not done, airlines will not equip themselves to fly in foggy weather conditions and passengers will continue to suffer the consequences.