Posted on 11/11/2017 3:33:50 PM PST by BenLurkin
Citing toxic smog that one official said has turned India’s capital city into a “gas chamber,” United Airlines has canceled flights to New Delhi until the air gets better.
At least in United’s eyes, the Indian capital’s smog concerns are on par with environmental disasters such as hurricanes and volcanoes — a risk to be avoided. The company said it was letting passengers switch flights without charge or helping them find seats on other carriers.
It was unclear if other airlines would follow suit. Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Etihad Airlines all compete for business to New Delhi, according to CNN Money. An advisory on United’s website said travel to New Delhi was suspended through at least Monday.
New Delhi’s air quality is consistently ranked among the world’s worst. But a perfect storm of problems is exacerbating the problem to potentially deadly levels. Farmers who have recently harvested crops in neighboring states are illegally burning their fields, sending smoke into the air. Construction projects and pollution from vehicles in a city that lacks adequate public transportation are making things worse.
This week, the smog was 10 times worse than reigning pollution champion Beijing, where air-quality problems have reached Olympic proportions. Some parts of New Delhi have pollution 40 times the World Health Organization-recommended safe level.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Obviously Trump’s fault.
Wasn’t on my must see list anyway.
I’ve been to various locations around the world with severe smog issues - after getting back to the hotel you wipe away amazing amounts of grime and soot from your face and from the insides of your nose, and then you think about the fact that you can’t wipe it off of the insides of your lungs. What’s in the air in New Delhi now must be incredibly bad if it’s being described as 10 times worse than Beijing.
Why would they stop flying there? Pilots cannot see the runway? Engines flameout due to lack of oxygen? Concern over passengers’ health? Worried about airframe and tire corrosion?
Does not make any sense at all to stop flying there.
Enviros, talk to India not China, not the USA.
We are lowering emissions and everyone else is increasing theirs. India and China are just entering their energy ages, their air is going to get worse, not better.
My daughter spent the summer in Nanjing (China) and was coughing for six weeks after she got home. Sounded like an old man who’d been smoking for forty years.
ummm... maybe they don’t want to force their staff into such a dangerous situation? If the air quality is that horrible....
Passengers can choose to travel there by other airlines (or by train etc.) if they insist on going, but United is protecting its own staff, I would say.
ummm... maybe they don’t want to force their staff into such a dangerous situation? If the air quality is that horrible....
Passengers can choose to travel there by other airlines (or by train etc.) if they insist on going, but United is protecting its own staff, I would say.
Maybe they can profit better by flying somewhere else and this is just the cover story.
Just think how much United will save on Fabreze after off loading native Indians, opening all doors to get rid of the stink for a few hours, before loading on a new group of stinkers and their dead chickens and fish.
Kinda like the smell on a Monday commute on a New York subway!
If traffic is down due to pollution it makes sense to cut flights. United was always not very interested in the Delhi route.
Why should I travel to some smog ridden third world s***hole when there are Muslims aplenty in my own city?
Are you from Pakistan?
Had to work that in somehow.
A couple,of,good theories. Thanks
Wouldn’t “10 times worse than beijing” make it .. underwater, but with sludge?
And I didn’t know Bush was president of these places, and that conservatives drove our SUVs there. I’ll have to remember that.
Google images of the Ganges-air might be the lesser problem.
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