To pack in more, airline seats older kids on laps

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked a leading low-cost carrier to sack staffers who let grown up children fly as infants. While children up to two years of age can fly seated on a parent's lap, those between two and 12 years of age have to be given a seat as per safety norms and also for the comfort of fellow passengers.
The first-of-its-kind breach was brought to the DGCA's notice when a passenger on the flight complained to the DGCA that the plane had more people on board than seats. An inquiry, based on which the regulator has acted now, reveals that the situation arose on SpiceJet's Mumbai-Delhi flight (SG 103) on June 2, 2010. The airline was supposed to operate a Boeing 737-900 (VT-SGB) with 212 passengers and nine 'infants' at 12.45pm. At the last moment, the aircraft developed a snag and was replaced with a smaller Boeing 737-800 (VT-SPF), which has a seating capacity of 189.
As a result, 23 passengers were offloaded – 15 were adjusted in other airlines and eight cancelled their tickets. The plane took off with 189 adults and nine 'infants' at 4.46pm — a delay of four hours.
28/11/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: spicejet Nov 2010