The government has released a set of rules to ensure that untoward incidents do not occur on flights in the country. Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju today on Twitter said there will be three levels of punishment for unruly passenger in flights.
"To ensure safety and check unruly & disruptive behaviour on aircraft, we will put in place, mechanism for country's first No-Fly list today," he wrote. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha also announced that the step has been taken keeping in mind the safety and security of airplane passengers.
There are different punishments depending on the severity of the offence.
1. Level 1 - Unruly physical gestures, verbal harassment and unruly inebriation fall under this category. The punishment for offenders will be a ban up to 3 months.2. Level 2 - Physically abusive behaviour (pushing, kicking, hitting or inappropriate touching)fall under this category. The punishment for offenders will be a ban of up to 6 months.3. Level 3 - Life threatening (assaults, damage to aircraft systems etc) fall under this category. The punishment for offenders will be a ban of minimum 2 years.
The punishment to offenders will be decided by an independent committee under a retired District Judge within a period of 30 days of alleged offence, according to Raju.
Misbehaviour in airlines, especially by people from the political class, has made headlines in recent time. In one such incident, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad earlier this year assaulted an Air India staffer because he could not travel business class in an all-economy flight.
Shiv Sena MP was flying on an Air India flight from Pune to Delhi. He hit Air India's duty manager Sukumar Raman with his slipper '25 times'. Later, Air India banned him from flying in the state-run airline. After this episode, An Air India official had said that the Airline was planning to prepare a no-fly list for unruly passengers.
However, this wasn't the only incident of misbehavior with airline officials. Days after Gaikwad case, a Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen created a ruckus inside an Air India flight over seating arrangement of her mother. The Air India flight AI-020 from Delhi to Kolkata was delayed by about 40 minutes after the MP refused to abide by security protocols.
These episodes have led to delays in flights and concerns over safety of crew and passengers. The no fly list is expected to curb the menace.