Scindia calls Tharoor ‘arm-chair critic’ in war of words over airport chaos

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday called out Congress leader Shashi Tharoor an "arm-chair" and accused him of being "lost in the esoteric world of thesaurus" after the latter questioned the government's preparedness to tackle the disrupted flight operations amid fog conditions.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), the union minister dubbed the Throor's criticism of the situation in airports a "lack of depth in understanding of technical sectors like civil aviation".

Tharoor pointed out the ordeal of passengers amid flight delays for up to 12 hours, leading them to eat meals on the tarmac, in the background of the “sorry state of affairs of India's aviation sector”.

"Delhi Airport has been in chaos recently. The young professional wanting to go home for Makar Sankranti. The Army officer excited to visit his ancestral village for Lohri. The anxious son trying to get home to take care of an unwell parent. Thousands of peoples’ lives and schedules have been disrupted by a regular, predictable, foggy winter day. It’s a ModiGovt-made disaster, a result of the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s neglect and incompetence. See the thread that follows", Thraoor said.

To this Scindia replied, “It is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”. Here are some actual facts for arm-chair critic @ShashiTharoor and the Cong IT Cell that might help tackle their lack of depth in understanding of technical sectors like civil aviation.”

The Congress leader criticised the authorities for not being able to upgrade the CAT III-B runways to the CAT III-C category which would allow pilots to land flights even at zero visibility.

"In 2008, at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore, Delhi IGI Airport got a brand-new CAT III-B compliant runway. CAT-III B is a type of Instrument Landing System, allowing pilots to land even when there is fog or low visibility of 50 metres. In total, Delhi has 4 runways, 2 of which are CAT III-B compliant. In all its wisdom, the Modi government began maintenance work on one of the two CAT III-B runways in September 2023, fully aware that it would not be ready for the winter!" he said.

The aviation minister answered, “Runway maintenance work is a critical safety element for aviation operations, and any compromise with runway conditions directly jeopardizes passenger safety. As a result, the maintenance was taken on top priority to be completed by 15th December before the onset of the fog season. However, due to pollution incidents and enforcement of GRAP-IV in Delhi, the recarpeting got delayed, resulting in a delay of one month in its commissioning. The revamped RWY is getting operational this week.”

Further, Tharoor took a dig at the authorities for failing to ensure that airlines have sufficiently trained pilots for opearting in fog conditions.

"Even worse, a crane from some other construction work was blocking operation of CAT III-B on one runway, even after repairs were complete. Delhi Airport flagged this over 10 days ago, on Jan 5th, but no action was taken. In addition to runways, pilots must be trained to land with CAT III-B instrument landing. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA failed to ensure that airlines have sufficiently trained pilots. Further, it did not even ensure that pilots planning to fly to Delhi during fog conditions were CAT III-B trained. Therefore, multiple flights were diverted to cities like Jaipur and Ahmedabad," he said.

Scindia refuted the Congress leader's claim and said that trained pilots have grown by 16% in the last three months alone from 5332 to 6191.

"The crane was being used for the construction of another critical infrastructure project - the Dwarka Expressway. However, in view of its impact on the runway, it has now been decided that the crane operation shall be allowed only on non-fog days. Thus, RWY 11R/29L is operational as CAT III as of yesterday. On sufficiently trained pilots, your claim is incorrect and baseless, as usual! As compared to only 2416 CAT II/CAT III trained pilots in 2014, today we have 6191 CAT II/CAT III trained pilots which is a jump of 2.5 times in the last 9 years. Further, in preparation for the fog season of 2023-24, due to our efforts, the number of CAT II/CAT III trained pilots have grown by 16% in the last three months alone from 5332 to 6191. Also, the DGCA mandates airlines to deploy CAT IIIB compliant aircraft only with qualified crew during the winter season. Any violations are strictly dealt with by the regulator, DGCA. For instance, show cause notices were issued to Spicejet and Air India," he said.

The former union minister targeted the government for not being able to upgrade the CAT III-B runways to the CAT III-C category.

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation claimed that at times the visibility was below 50 meters, and so even CAT III-B would not have been enough. However, there is an even higher category of instrument landing called CAT III-C, which can land at zero visibility. All the way back in 2008, the UPA government could ensure a CAT III-B runway. 16 years have passed since then, with 10 years under the present government. Still, they have yet to even plan a single CAT III-C runway. Across the world, major international airports have multiple CAT III-C runways, but India does not even have one, despite its capital city's woeful fog & smog issues in winter. Why not?" he said.

To this, Scindia replied, “It would be prudent to know about the 3 dependent factors for CAT III Landings viz. Runway Capability, Aircraft Capability and Pilot Accreditation. And thus, CAT III operations are decided by the Highest Common Factor among the three variables. The two CAT III runways at Delhi Airport are equipped for aircraft to land with minimum visibility of up to 50 meters. However, the majority of the aircraft fleet in India viz. Airbus 320 (75 mtrs) and Boeing 737 Max (175 mtrs) have visibility minima greater than the runway threshold. Thus, even if the runway is capable and sufficiently trained CAT III pilots are made available, these aircraft are not designed for Zero Visibility operations. Further to give you a perspective, JFK ( New York ) airport in the USA has 4 runways, but the airport only has 1 runway capable of CAT III landing which is also with a restricted minima up to 182 mtrs (600 feet) – 3.5 times of India’s 50 mtrs! Go figure it out yourself - Enlightened, Mr Tharoor!”

Tharoor further questioned the mismanagement at the airports leaving passengers stranded for hours.

"Of course, to make matters worse, the authorities were completely unable to manage the situation, or keep passengers comfortable and updated. That is why after a 12 hour delay, passengers were eating meals on the tarmac of IGI airport, a shocking security breach. After the comedy of errors from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the DGCA has also been unable to enforce basic passenger rights. Depending on the length of a flight delay, airlines are required to provide food and drink & free accommodations, or pay compensation. These passenger rights were put in place by the Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3, issued in 2010 under the UPA. However, airlines have openly flouted these norms. For years, airlines have violated rules - passengers with tickets denied boarding, compensation not provided after delays, etc. DGCA ‘hauls them up’ for publicity, but either takes no action or imposes fines of token amounts," he said.

The civil aviation minister said that the instance was unacceptable, and SOPs for better communication with passengers were issued.

"The treatment meted out to the passengers in the instant case was unacceptable, and we have acted immediately in the form of a show cause notice to the concerned operators. Further, SOPs for better communication to passengers were also issued. Implementation is being monitored thrice daily. CARs implemented during the UPA rule in 2010 were, as expected, inadequate for enforcing passenger rights and had to be amended multiple times by the DGCA to incorporate provisions for safeguarding passenger rights! Further, the DGCA keeps a strict watch on the passenger complaints regarding mistreatment and penalizes operators if found guilty. For instance, since 2022, airlines have been imposed with fines for not providing passenger amenities as per the DGCA guidelines," he said.

Tharoor also claimed chaos at airports is just one of the results of the Modi government’s chronic mismanagement.

"Of course, in the background of all of this is the sorry state of India’s aviation sector. Once a highly competitive industry with many different airlines and cheap fares, now 90% of the market is controlled by just two groups. Market concentration anywhere and everywhere fosters high prices and poor customer service. Chaos at airports is just one of the results of the Modi government’s chronic mismanagement. Indian Railways has also been struggling as the government reduces the number of sleeper and general coaches, and increases AC coaches, despite the poor economic situation in India. The result of this is thousands of passengers overflowing into reserved AC compartments. But that's another story, for another day! Meanwhile, Kudos to the @INCIndia War-Room team for doing the research & putting this together for me", he said in a series of posts.

Scindia refuted the claims saying that the number of airlines and airports have grown in the country.

“This is just baseless rhetoric. Airlines that shut shop/were brought to failure during the UPA rule = Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Air India. Under the NDA govt, along with Akasa, 5 new regional airlines have taken birth under the PM’s UDAN vision. Fleet size has increased from 400 in 2014 to 730 today, and will reach 1,500 - 2,000 by 2030. Airports have doubled from 74 in the last 65 years to 149 today. This will reach 220 in the next 3-4 years. Hope you are better informed now, Mr @ShashiTharoor!”

The Tharoor-Scindia verbal duel on the social media platform comes amid frequent flight cancellations and delays at the IGI Airport in wake of the dense fog and cold weather conditions.

On Wednesday, as many as 53 flights including 21 Domestic arrivals, 16 Domestic departures, 13 International departures and 3 International arrivals were cancelled, while around 120 flights were delayed due to low visibility amid dense fog, according to the Delhi airports' Flight Information Display System (FIDS).