Calcutta flight grounded

Calcutta: The fog was in Delhi, but a flight from Calcutta to Kathmandu was cancelled today.
Boarding passes had been issued for Air India’s flight IC 747, due to take off from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport at 12.50pm. But there was no pilot to fly the Airbus 320, and the passengers were told they would have to come back tomorrow.
An airline spokesperson said the pilot supposed to fly the plane had come from Delhi yesterday but had to return last night after the fog in the capital upset schedules.
Airline sources said the pilot for the Kathmandu flight comes from Delhi the previous day, flying the morning IC 401 to Calcutta. He then takes off to a Northeast destination and flies back, spending the night in the city.
Next day, he takes IC 747 to Kathmandu, returns in the afternoon and then takes the late-evening flight to Delhi. But the sources said problems with the arrangement, of having pilots sent from Delhi, were frequent.
This morning’s problem was different. After the pilot went back, the airline’s officials in Delhi requested their counterparts in Calcutta to spare a pilot for the Kathmandu flight. “But since all trained pilots were busy on other sectors, nothing could be done,” the official said.
16/12/07 The Telegraph

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Categories: Air India Domestic Dec 2007, Airports Dec 2007