Banning pilots without Cat-III certification to hit SpiceJet and JetLite

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)'s decision to ban pilots without Category-III certification from flying in foggy weather will have a severe adverse effect on SpiceJet and JetLite. Both the airlines do not have a single Category-III certified pilot while their operational frequency is high in the fog-prevalant zone of North India, especially New Delhi, which sees frequent disruptions in air traffic due to fog. Further, their flights are scheduled in the early morning and late night slots at airports, the time slots that experience foggy weather. Other airlines like Jet Airways could also face problems as only 58 of their 358 pilots are Category-III certified. The Category-III landing systems allow pilots to land and take-off in poor visibility.
As per sources, the cost of training a pilot on Category-III landing systems is less than USD 10,000. However, a spokesperson for SpiceJet said that the airline operates with standard Boeing 737 aircraft, which is not equipped with Category-III and installing the system on all the aircraft would cost a fortune.
11/12/07 TravelBizMonitor

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Categories: Airports Dec 2007, JetLite Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007, SpiceJet Dec 2007