Alliance Air deboards four for not following Covid-appropriate behaviour

The circular stated that people on board found not following Covid-appropriate behaviour or not wearing masks despite repeated warnings would be treated as "unruly" passengers and action will be taken

Air India's regional arm Alliance Air has become one of the first airlines in India to put passengers on the No Fly List for not wearing masks on board.

The development comes after aviation regulator DGCA issued a direction on Sunday saying that passengers who do not wear masks properly even after repeated warnings could be deboarded before departure.

The circular stated that people on board found not following Covid-appropriate behaviour or not wearing masks despite repeated warnings would be treated as “unruly” passengers and action would be taken against them by the concerned airline.

Four passengers travelling on from Jammu to Delhi were deboarded by the crew after they refused to wear mask despite repeated requests from the pilot in command.

After the flight landed at Delhi Airport, the four passengers were handed over to security agencies. The airline also informed DGCA that they had been marked as unruly passengers by the airline.

India's No Fly List rules, unveiled in 2017, have a provision for banning unruly passengers from a minimum three months to a maximum of two years depending on the severity of the incident.

In fact, India's largest airline IndiGo last year barred 9 TV journalists from flying with the airline for 15 days over their alleged unruly behaviour onboard a flight in which actor Kangana Ranaut was travelling to Mumbai from Chandigarh in September.

The journalists, while chasing Ranaut for a byte, had violated social distancing norms on board.