Airlines asked to train crew to deal with unruly flyers

The training should enable crew to detect, defuse and handle critical situations, DGCA said

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) wants airlines crew to be adequately trained to prevent any disruptive behaviour by passengers on ground as well as onboard. In its draft regulations, the DGCA has said the training should enable crew to detect, defuse and handle critical situations.

The regulator also wants airlines to develop standard operating procedures for dealing with disruptive passengers and include a statutory warning in the ‘conditions of carriage’ printed on tickets, specifying the acts that would be considered unlawful.

“Airlines shall establish a mechanism to detect and report unruly passenger behaviour at check-in, in the lounges, and at the boarding gate in order to prevent such passengers from boarding. In case of occurrence of an act of unruly behaviour while the aircraft is on the ground, such cases shall be reported immediately in writing and First Information Report lodged with the security agency at the aerodrome for assistance,” the DGCA's draft regulations said. Notably, it added the disruptive behaviour could also be the result of unsatisfactory service. In such cases, the staff should be able to spot early signs and handle the situation soon enough, so that the situation doesn’t escalate.

The regulation does not mandate the procedures that crew should follow to control disruptive passengers. However, airlines in India allow crew to use seat belts or carry nylon handcuffs to tie disruptive passengers, should the situation so demand.

While foreign airlines blacklist disruptive passengers from future travel by creating a no-fly list, Indian airlines do not.

In May, SpiceJet's chief operating officer Sanjiv Kapoor had said this on Twitter, "Abusive pax (passenger). Ground staff, cabin crew in India take a lot of abuse. It needs to stop." He also tweeted this: "This kind of behaviour would land the abusive pax behind bars in many other parts of the world. You cannot abuse crew ever! It is shocking."

Banned behaviour !

* Endangering the safety of an aircraft and persons therein

* Drunk behaviour in aircraft

* Smoking in an aircraft

• Failure to obey commands of aircraft commander
• Threatening, abusing or insulting cabin crew;
• Intentionally interfering with the performance of a crew member