Months after the Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulted an Air India crew member, the government on Friday released ‘no-fly-list’ for unruly air passengers.
Unruly air passengers will now be banned from flying for a period ranging from three months to lifetime.
The level of unruly behaviour has been listed in three categories — Unruly behaviour (Verbal), Physical behaviour and Life threatening behaviour — respectively.
The first level of misdemeanour includes disruptive behaviour such as physical gestures, verbal harassment and unruly behaviour because of inebriation. This level of offence will carry a flying ban of three months.
The second level comprises physically abusive behaviour such as pushing, hitting, inappropriate touching or harassment. This degree of misconduct will carry a ban of six months.
The third category consists of life threatening behaviours such as damage to aircraft operating system, physical violence and attempted breach of flight crew compartment. This will carry a flying ban of two years or more without limit.
“The motive behind the No-Fly List is safety and security of passengers, which is our priority,” said Jayant Sinha, MoS Civil Aviation.
The DGCA said that if the Ministry of Home Affairs informs them about a certain individual then that person will also be added in the ‘No-Fly List’
A total of 455 cases of unruly behaviour by air travellers have been reported since 2016, the Lok Sabha was informed in July
Two Members of Parliament (MPs) were barred from by the domestic carriers from flying after they allegedly assaulted and abused airline staff in two separate incidents. The ban on them was subsequently revoked by the airlines. Following once such incident, where Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad allegedly hit an Air India ground staff ’25 times’ with slippers, the government was forced to prepare a list for a no-fly list comprising unruly passengers.
As per the IATA, in 2015, there were 10,854 reported cases of unruly behaviour by the passengers across airlines worldwide, which translates into one incident for every 1,205 flights.
