Passenger complaints are on the increase and they run from pillar to post when they feel the pinch in the airport tarmac or on board the flight. Mumbai Airport problems are too many. We saw near misses and hits in recent times. The radar failure delays the flights hovering around Airport and some others were diverted as well. With winter season setting in India we can come across many more regular cancellation and delays. Passengers are put into discomfiture and the chaos caused total confusion. Because of parking problem the flying machines will have to shed more fuel because of the confusion. Several planes lined up as take offs were hit due to low visibility as well. The main problem with airports in India is congestion. Safety should be the first option if a big airplane land in our airstrip. Apart from this the runway does not have the mandatory side strips to cushion planes in case of skids or crashes. Inaccurate markings near parking bays were another cause of concern, as they are important for taking off, landing and taxing. Many minor collisions involving aircraft and ground vehicles could have been avoided had the markings been accurate. The height of the hangers is also a problem as some of them exceed the permissible limit. This affects the movement of a big air crafts. The exact height will have to be determined and corrective measures. It is high time that AAI take stringent measures and see that all the problems are solved amicably to make air travel a pleasure in the New year.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
