New Delhi, February 18 The DGCA, the aviation regulator, has proposed stricter rules to deal with unruly passengers, including allowing airlines to directly impose a flight ban on such passengers for up to 30 days.
"A 'No/Zero Tolerance Policy' has been adopted to ensure the safety of aircraft/persons/property and to maintain good order & discipline on board an aircraft," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its draft revised rules.
Among other proposals, the regulator has mentioned that an airline shall formulate and implement a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the handling of unruly passengers and for reporting incidents to the DGCA, and shall circulate the same among all concerned stakeholders.
An independent committee set up by the airline, which will include a representative from another carrier, among others, will make the decision on the flight ban.
"... an airline may directly impose a flight ban for a disruptive passenger for a period not exceeding thirty days (30) days without referring the matter to the Independent Committee, where the passenger is found to have committed any of the following disruptive acts on board an aircraft," the regulator said.
Such action can be taken by an airline for various violations, including smoking on board the aircraft, consumption of alcohol on board a domestic flight, and misuse of an emergency exit or unauthorised use of life-saving equipment, including life jackets.
Under the existing Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), pending the decision of the independent committee, the concerned airline may ban such unruly passenger from flying for up to 45 days.
This provision also remains in the proposed revised CAR for handling unruly passengers.
Unruly passengers can face varying periods of flight bans depending on the severity of the offence. For Level 1, the ban can be up to three months, and for Level 2, it can be up to six months. In the case of Levels 3 and 4, the minimum ban can be for two years or more, without a limit.
Level 1 refers to unruly behaviour such as physical gestures, verbal harassment, or being under the influence of alcohol. Level 2 refers to physically abusive behaviour, including pushing, kicking, hitting, grabbing, or inappropriate touching or sexual harassment.
Level 3 refers to "life-threatening behaviour (damage to aircraft operating systems, physical violence such as choking, eye gouging, murderous assault etc)", and Level 4 refers to attempted or actual breach of the flight crew compartment, as per the DGCA.
In addition, passengers may be banned from flying due to national security concerns.
Comments from stakeholders on the changes to the CAR have been sought until March 16.