The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Action sought against airlines for not refunding fare on cancellation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 02, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Action sought against airlines for not refunding fare on cancellation

Staff Reporter

Passengers' body highlights number of problems plaguing passengers

CHENNAI: With mounting complaints of airlines not refunding fares of low-cost tickets , the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) has called for strict action by the Government against the offending companies.

APAI founder-president Sudhakara Reddy said when passengers book cheaper tickets in advance and then cancel it, they were unable to get their money refunded. At a press conference on Friday, Mr. Reddy outlined the other major concerns of the civil aviation industry plaguing passengers. The recent decision by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to empower pilots to certify the fitness of the aircraft during domestic stopovers had been opposed in the interest of safety of passengers. The job should be done by engineers. But due to a shortage of aviation engineers, the DGCA allowed this. The APAI has filed a case in Delhi that is listed for September. According to APAI figures, about 2,500 engineers were needed for about 350 aircraft in India.

The APAI expressed concern about pilots having to work long hours, which could jeopardise the safety of passengers. The organisation called for a Flight Duty Time Limitation to be implemented.

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