IA informs passengers of flight delays

bangalore: for those who have only complaints about indian airlines, here's reason to cheer: a delay in flights is quickly communicated to passengers to save them a long wait at the airport, bag, baggage, worry beads et al. says station manager (indian airlines) vijay paul: "it all started with heavy fog in delhi, and almost all flights going haywire.passengers were called and told about the delay so they could wait at home or hotel, and not the airport. after that, a system was evolved and has now become a regular feature. the only necessity is that the customer must leave his or her contact number behind." "the response has been positive," adds t h radhakrishnan, assistant manager (administration). ia has also introduced the consumer-friendly rapid reservation system. it allows the passenger to call up the airlines for a ticket and collect the boarding pass half an hour before departure. similarly, you can also cancel your ticket 24 hours before the flight. everything over the telephone. another is the lounge facility. those whose reservation is uncertain can stay at the lounge and, if need be, make arrangements from there. ironically, very few people seem to be aware of these schemes, especially about being informed about a delay in flight. says subhash, "as and when a flight is delayed, we are given free lunch while waiting it out. i have never heard my co-passengers tell me they have ever received information about flights being delayed. and there have never been any calls at the contact number that i have left." says rashmi: "most of the time, flights are delayed. but no, i have never heard of anything like this. never have i received a call saying my flight has been delayed." however, frequent fliers seem to know about this facility, obviously. says harish bijoor, chief operating officer, zip telecom, who takes four flights a week in the domestic sector, "there have been occasions when ia has called to tell me about delayed flights on my mobile." adds radhakrishnan, "we call a person a maximum of three times to inform them. of course, their contact number is a must." "often, customers leave their contact numbers, but mostly those at office. when we call them, they are not available. the service is almost impossible with early morning flights," paul added. information is given to passengers either manually or through the computer. manually, a list is drawn up and passengers are informed. informers are deployed at the gate itself so passengers do not have to check in, and can go home and return later. says paul, "we also have pager services. the customer can call 9627011142 for arrival and 9627011143 for departure and get the latest information about flights, since the information is updated every two or three hours." and then there's the computer. called the activate rapid system or the passenger dissemination system, information is fed into the computer about delay in flights, which in turn informs the passengers. several trials are made to get in touch with the passenger, says paul.