Why did Kerala face hundreds of flight cancellations?

The union government says hundreds of flights to and from Kerala were cancelled between April and June 2024. The union minister of aviation said that this was a result of strikes launched by Air India Express workers over the merger of Air Asia and Air India Express.

According to minister of civil aviation K. Rammohan Naidu, there were 164 Air India flight cancellations between April and June in Kerala. Naidu was responding to several queries on delays and cancellations of flight services focused on Kerala.

Air India, the minister said, cancelled 14 flights in April, 132 in May and 18 in June which either originated in the state or had their destination in Kerala. The minister said he would give the details for the rest of the country later.

In another response to Vadakkara MP Shafi Parambil’s starred question on the total number of flights cancelled from Calicut and Kannur between April and June 2024, the minister stated that a total of 542 flights were cancelled to and from Calicut and Kannur airports (which is around 5.59 per cent of the total number of flights) during the last three months.

In response to Palakkad MP K. Sreekandan's query on cancellations of flights from the Gulf countries to Kerala, Murlidhar Mohol — who is minister of state in the ministry of civil aviation — said, “During the period April to June 2024, Air India Express had a schedule of 5,618 flights from Kerala to the Gulf and vice versa, out of which 245 flights were cancelled, which is 4.36  per cent of the published schedule.”

In a response to Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh’s question on the delays and cancellations of Air India flights, Naidu said Air India had a schedule of 19,253 flights from six metros (domestic sectors) — namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru — during the period April 2024 to June 2024.

“Out of this, 0.2 per cent flights were cancelled and 4.5 per cent flights were delayed (this means flights delayed more than 60 minutes). Air India had a schedule of 1,600 flights from India to Gulf during the period 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024, out of which around 2 per cent flights were cancelled and 4.6 per cent flights were delayed (by more than 60 minutes)."

Highlighting the repeated delays and cancellation of flights, Congress general secretary (organisation) and Alappuzha MP K.C. Venugopal said that the delaying of flights, especially by Air India, was the order of the day now. “People are suffering a lot due to these delays, especially those from Kerala. Sometimes, flights get cancelled without prior information, and customers are not given refunds. As an MP from Kerala, I must mention that a large number of people from the Middle East are suffering due to this,” said Venugopal.

While pointing out that the Kerala government and all its MPs had given a memorandum to the union government regarding the extremely high airfares from Gulf countries, Venugopal also asked whether the government had studied these issues. He also asked whether any system had been set up to monitor all these cancellations, and whether the ministry was even aware of all these issues.

Responding, Naidu said that in order to ensure appropriate protection for air travellers against flight disruptions, cancellations and delays without due notice, the DGCA has issued Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section 3, Series M, Part-IV, on 'Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delayed flights'.

This section of the CAR lays down that, in case of a cancellation, the airline shall either provide an alternative flight or provide compensation in addition to full refund of the cost of the air ticket purchased. The airline shall also provide meals and refreshments to passengers who have already reported for their original flight at the airport, while they wait for the alternative flight.

Parambil also raising the point of arbitrarily high airfares, noting that flights that usually cost Rs 5,000 are hiked to Rs 50,000 and sometimes Rs 85,000 for the economy class during vacation season:

Parambil wanted a high-level committee to look into the issue so that it could hear the issues of the people, and the committee would find out the socio-economic consequences.

Adding to this issue, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said there are several glitches in the software during booking itself:

Washing his hands of this issue, the civil aviation minister said that this was a market-driven approach. “I want to make the air prices affordable. I’m ensuring that we will try to do something. No, the rules do not allow us to regulate prices. It is a tricky process and there is a lot of parameters that come into play,” said Naidu.

He also noted that there was a shortage of aircraft in the country, and an order for 1,200 aircrafts had been placed.

“As far as regulation of airfare is concerned, government does not regulate the fares set by airlines — Indian or foreign. The fares on any route are dependent, inter alia, on seasonality, holidays and festivals, cost of aviation turbine fuel, competition and other similar factors," said Naidu.

"Airline pricing runs in multiple levels (buckets or RBDs), which is in line with the practice being followed globally, and due to dynamic fare pricing, the tickets bought in advance are much cheaper than those purchased near the travel date. Under the provisions of Rule 135(1) of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, the airlines are free to fix tariffs, having regard to all relevant factors, including cost of operation, characteristics of services, generally prevailing tariff,” he said.

Responding to Kerala’s Idukki MP Dean Kurakose’s unstarred question on whether the government intended to control or cap the airfare during school vacation and festival seasons, at least for flights from countries in West Asia to Kerala, Murlidhar Mohol responded in the negative.