NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s AirSewa platform, the official grievance redressal mechanism for air passengers, faced a surge of complaints during the IndiGo operational meltdown in early December. In response, a 24x7 real-time Passenger Assistance Control Room (PACR) was established on 10 December to expedite resolution of public grievances.

Data shared by the ministry indicates that over 14,000 grievances were submitted through the portal, as well as via calls, emails, and social media, during December. Of these, 3,206 complaints were lodged in a single week between 3 and 9 December, largely due to the IndiGo disruption, which affected domestic operations nationwide from 1 to 9 December.

Speaking to TNIE, Deputy Director General Pramod Kumar Thakur said, “A 100-strong team comprising airport and airline representatives, officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Airports Authority of India, and the Ministry are posted in the real-time PACR. They work round-the-clock in three shifts to ensure passenger grievances are resolved promptly. We have already redressed most of the nearly 14,000 grievances received in December.”