No mid-air bash: DGCA prohibits singing, dancing in the aisle

Directs that no activities beyond regular duties of cabin crew would be permitted; says that safety of cabin is paramount

The Director General of Civil Aviation has made it clear to airlines the "safety of the cabin is paramount" and no fun activities will be allowed in Indian skies.

Airline sources said no new regulations had been issued, but the regulator had stressed no activities beyond the regular duties of cabin crew would be permitted.

"We are not going to allow any activities that threaten the safety of the passengers and hence no permission will be granted to anyone wanting to hold activities that are not well described in the rule book," a DGCA official said.

According to the official, the regulator recently declined permission to a domestic carrier that wanted to celebrate Holi on board. In another instance, an airline that was promoting a movie through its public announcement system is under regulatory glare.

STRICTER NORMS

• DGCA directed that no activities beyond regular duties of the cabin crew would be permitted
• It stressed that the safety of the cabin is paramount
• It recently declined permission to a domestic carrier that wanted to celebrate Holi on board
• Another airline that was promoting a movie through its public announcement (PA) system is under scrutiny
• DGCA recently sent a notice to Jet Airways for allowing a singer to use the PA system for singing and asked for suspension of the cabin crew on duty

"We took cognisance of the matter after reading media reports and the incident is now being investigated," the official said. DGCA guidelines do not allow in-flight public announcement systems to be used for anything other than safety and emergency instructions.

The regulator recently sent a notice to Jet Airways for allowing a singer to use the public announcement system for singing and asked it to suspend the cabin crew on duty.

The DGCA's attempt to uphold safety will limit options of entertainment for Indian fliers. "The DGCA needs to stop micromanagement of airlines and concentrate on real safety issues. Even conservative airlines around the world have tried to gain attention of passengers using such tactics," said Devesh Agarwal of bangaloreaviation.com, an aviation blog.

Agarwal cites the example of FinAir, which conducted a flash mob in one of its flights to celebrate an occasion. United had cabin crew issue safety instructions through a song. In 2014, SouthWest Airlines grabbed gained some good press after a couple tied the knot mid-air.

Bands played and balloons decorated the jetway and fellow passengers received an extra boarding pass from the airline inviting them to celebrate.

The DGCA on its part is adamant. "Airlines can celebrate festivals and entertain passengers in lounges before boarding aircraft but not inside," the official said.

"The DGCA should allow 10-15 minutes of live entertainment during the non-critical phase of a flight with due approval from the captain. An outright ban appears to be an overkill," said Amber Dubey, partner and head of aerospace and defence at consultancy firm KPMG.