'Anti-fog system not worth the expense'

Talk about a fog index hovering over the aviation sector. Despite the chaos that threw air traffic out of gear last winter, and Airports Authority of India (AAI) spending Rs 200 cr on making various Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) compliant up to CAT-IIIB levels, the situation could well be the same this year. Reason? Most airlines are reluctant to pump in money to upgrade planes and train pilots in these new systems for a few foggy days. Figures for the last two years show how abysmally low was the use of CAT-III by airlines. According to AAI, only one departure using CAT-IIIB took place at IGI Airport — on January 3, 2006. Arrivals using CAT-IIIB were six — mostly international airlines. Arrivals using CAT-IIIA were slightly better: 18; departures: 16. And all this for some 22 days of fog. In 2004, five domestic departures and a landing used CAT-IIIA. In the international sector, 22 landings and 34 take-offs took place during 15 foggy days. One reason for this low figure, says an IA commander, is that both pilots and the plane have to be synchronised to CAT-IIIB systems.

Also, while A-320s are CAT-IIIB compliant, some Boeing 737s aren't. Airlines with Boeings would, therefore, be reluctant to use it. Jet's VP, flight operations (Trg) Capt Ray Heiniger says their A-340/330 pilots are CAT-II qualified. "Expat pilots are trained on CAT-IIIA/B. Many of B-737 pilots are CAT-II qualified. We plan to train all pilots on wide-bodied planes (A-330/340, B777) on CAT-III A/B to meet our international requirements." However, some 737s have to be upgraded to CAT-III and new pilots don't have the experience for CAT-II, he says. For low-cost carriers, upgrading planes and training pilots isn't easy. IA spends nearly Rs 3 lakh per pilot and Rs 2 lakh each on refresher courses every six months. Airlines say they would first like airports to be upgraded. Pilots must first be trained on CAT-1, then move to CAT-II. What about CAT-IIIC which allows airlines to land in zero visibility? "That calls for blind take-off and landing. The whole area will have to be sanitised. It's not feasible,"says the AAI source.

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