Go First airline has on Friday been fined Rs 10 lakh by aviation regulator DGCA for leaving behind 55 Delhi-bound passengers at Bengaluru airport.
“An incident occurred on January 9, 2023 wherein Go First flight G8-116 on Bangalore-Delhi sector, leaving behind 55 pax in pax coach at Bangalore airport. DGCA issued Show Cause notice to Accountable Manager of Go First as to why enforcement action shouldn’t be taken against them,” Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
Go First’s reply revealed “that there was improper communication”, said DGCA. For these lapses, the watchdog has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the airline.
“Go First submitted a reply to the Show Cause notice on 25th Jan and the same was examined. Reply reveals that there was improper communication, coordination between terminal coordinator (TC), commercial staff and crew regarding boarding of passengers in the aircraft. The airline failed to ensure adequate arrangement for ground handling, preparation of load and trim sheet, flight dispatch and passenger/cargo handling & therefore, enforcement action in the form of penalty of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed,” said DGCA.
“From what we know the Bengaluru-Delhi flight was boarding from gate number 25 at Kempegowda International Airport, which was not an aerobridge. There were four buses and the flight was delayed by around 20 minutes. At the boarding gate, the ground staff reconciles all the passengers from the checked-in load manifest, while the baggage is reconciled by the security staff at the baggage make-up area (BMA),” the head of flight operations with another airline informed Business Today a few days ago while requesting anonymity.