JOIN USThe government on Friday unveiled draft rules of a national no-fly list for unruly passengers, recommending a ban on flying from three months to two years or more.
The move by the ministry of civil aviation to amend the existing Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on ‘Handling Unruly/Disruptive Passengers’ comes in the wake of a recent incident involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who repeatedly slapped an Air India manager.
The draft rules propose graded punishment for offences that are categorised into three levels. A passenger may figure in the no-fly list for three months if he/she is found violating Level 1 offences like disruptive behaviour, physical gestures and verbal abuse.
The airline will have an option to ban a flier for six months for Level 2 offences like physically abusive behaviour like pushing, kicking and sexual harassment.
The flier may figure in the list for two or more years if he/she commits a Level 3 offence, categorised as life-threatening, including murderous assaults, choking and damaging aircraft operating systems, among others.
In the case of repeat offenders, the person will be barred for twice the period of the previous ban. The no-fly list would also consist of people identified as security threats by the ministry of home affairs.
“These provisions are airline specific. An airline can ban a passenger, but others can continue to fly the passenger if they desire so,” Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told reporters, in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his deputy Jayant Sinha.
“We have put this in public domain and stakeholders have one month to present their views,” Raju said.
Sinha said passengers would be identified through Aadhaar, passport or any other document provided at the time of booking.
On whether the list is only for domestic transporters, Choubey said if international carriers want to use this input, they are free to do so.
This is for the first time in the history of civil aviation that a no-fly list is being proposed to address safety concerns. “No other country has a no-fly list based on safety. Some countries have such lists based on security,” Sinha said.
When an airline gets complaint of unruly/disruptive behaviour
Incident should be referred to internal committee comprising :
Retired district and sessions judge as chairman
Representative from a different scheduled airline
Representative from a passenger or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum
Panel to decide on complaint within 10 days
Pending decision of the committee, airline can ban unruly passengers up to 10 days
Aggrieved persons can approach Appellate Committee, set up by ministry of civil aviation, consisting of:
Retired high court judge
Representative from passenger or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum Representative of the airline of the rank not below the vice president
Decision of Appellate Committee shall be final as far as government is concerned. Any further appeal shall be taken up before a high court