Passengers Eating Food on Tarmac At Mumbai Airport, Scindia Says ‘Unacceptable’ & ‘Shameful’

Amidst the unsettling situation surrounding airlines in the country, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that incidents like passengers having food on tarmac at Mumbai airport were unacceptable and that penalties were imposed due to the same.

The safety and security of citizens is primary for the government, he further said.

Addressing the media at the Wings India 2024 that began on Thursday, “Within hours of being informed or getting to know of that incident happening, beyond midnight, a meeting was held with all officials within the ministry. The showcause notice was issued immediately.”

The fact that passengers were inconvenienced and that they had to eat on the tarmac, apart from security being compromised across all points was unacceptable, he said.

While pointing out that within three to four hours notices were issued and within 24 hours, the necessary penalties were levied, he said, “This or any incident like this is unacceptable for us. Therefore, penalties were issued.”

He added that two separate Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) were issued. ”This, certainly, what happened was unacceptable and it was a shameful incident. I don’t mind saying that very, very clearly,” he said.

Aviation regulators BCAS and DGCA on Wednesday slapped penalties totalling Rs 2.70 crore on IndiGo, Mumbai airport operator MIAL, Air India and SpiceJet for various violations. Days after a video of IndiGo passengers having food on the Mumbai airport tarmac was widely shared, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) slapped fines of Rs 1.20 crore on the airline and Rs 60 lakh on MIAL.The DGCA imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on the airport operator, according to separate orders.

Separately, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had slapped a penalty of Rs 30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet for their failure to comply with the rostering of pilots for operating flights in low visibility conditions. The penal action comes more than two weeks after significant flight disruptions were witnessed at the Delhi airport due to dense fog that had resulted in low visibility conditions.

Indigo Fliers Eat Food On Mumbai Airport Tarmac

Dense fog in the northern part of India, especially Delhi, has adversely affected flight operations, leaving passengers waiting for hours at the airport.

A video went viral on X, formerly Twitter in which passengers can be seen eating and sitting on the airport tarmac at Mumbai airport in the night after their Delhi-bound IndiGo flight was diverted to the city.

Passengers boarded flight number 6E 2195 from Goa to Delhi on Sunday. However, the flight was diverted to Mumbai due to dense fog at Delhi airport.

(with agency inputs)