Ombudsman to aid harassed flyers soon

New Delhi: Flyers may soon get a one-stop redressal mechanism for all their woes with the government planning to have several aviation ombudsmen across the country. Delhi may have the first ombudsman, to be followed by other metros and the states.
"The plan is to set up the office this year itself, first at the Centre and then on a state or at least regional level. This quasi-judicial authority will have the authority to resolve passenger complaints against airlines or airports, without them running around to be heard," aviation minister Praful Patel said.
Patel also added that the ministry is working on a plan to simplify airline fares. "The working group constituted for this purpose has given some recommendations. We are soon going to take a call on how maximum transparency in fares can be ensured so that spot fares turning unreasonable in crunch times can be avoided," he said.
According to aviation ministry sources, the government will take a holistic view on the issue of fares. The working group on fares is learnt to have given suggestions like opening up the closed airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore for low cost carriers at a reasonable charge. Similarly, the panel is in favour of continuing to use the excess capacity in Delhi (in form of terminal 1D) if everything is to be moved to T3.
19/01/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2011