Keep middle seats vacant to extent possible: DGCA to airlines

After a rap from the Supreme Court, the civil aviation regulator on Monday urged airlines to try and keep the middle-seat vacant in an aircraft or give a “wrap around gowns” to those occupying the seats to protect the health of air travelers.

In an earlier order, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had allowed airlines to have passengers on the middle seat of the aircraft with the government arguing that keeping the seats vacant would make air travel unviable – both for passengers and the airlines.

“The airlines shall allot the seats in such a manner that the middle seat between two passengers is kept vacant if the passenger load and seat capacity permits the same,” the DGCA said.

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However, it added that members of the same family may be allowed to sit together.

If the middle seat is occupied due to the passenger load factor, the civil aviation regulator has asked airlines to provide an additional protective equipment like a “wrap around gown” as per the standards prescribed by the textiles ministry. The new directions come into effect from June 3.

As per the standard operating procedures (SOP) for air travel, only asymptomatic persons are allowed to undertake a flight journey. The DGCA regulations also make it incumbent on the airline to provide face mask, sanitiser and face shields to the passengers before boarding the aircraft.

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The revision in the middle-seat guidelines came in response to a Special Leave Petition filed in the Supreme Court against the SOP for the Vande Bharat evacuation flights which allowed passengers on the middle seat.

The matter is before the Court, which had allowed the DGCA to alter the norms during the pendency of the matter in the interest of public health.

Accordingly, the Civil Aviation Ministry had set up a committee of experts to review the public health related protocols of air travel.

The committee also suggested that no meals or drinking water would be served on board an aircraft except in extreme circumstances arising due to health reasons.

It also asked the airlines to adjust the air conditioning in such a manner that the air inside an aircraft gets replaced in the shortest possible time.