Gaikwad hails 'No-Fly' rule for unruly passengers

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Friday hailed the Central Government's announcement of new rules for a 'No-fly list' for unruly passengers which will include suspension for offences.

Gaikwad told ANI, "The guidelines were needed to address the issues pertaining to civil aviation safety."

Further commenting on Aviation secretary R. N. Choubey's announcement that every airline will form a standing committee with external members in it, Gaikwad demanded that the members of parliament should also be the part of the committee in order to keep a check on the conduct of the airline staff members.

For the first time in history, the Civil Aviation Ministry has announced the draft rules of 'No-fly list' for the unruly passengers.

According to the Aviation Ministry, the offences have been categorized in three levels - Level one constitutes disruptive behaviour like physical gestures.

Level two will include physically abusive behavior like pushing, kicking, and sexual harassment. Level three will include murderous assault or life threatening behavior and damage to the aircraft operating systems.

The punishment for unruly behavior will be into three levels - first level is three months, second level for six months, and third level for two years or more without any limit.

"If any incident will happen, then, the Airline can immediately ban the passenger. After which the process will be completed in the next ten days," Minister of state of civil aviation Jayant Sinha said.

The draft was made public by Aviation Minister Ashok G. Raju and his Deputy Jayant Sinha.

The draft will give about a month for the public to comment. The aviation ministry will then take some time to study them and come out with the final CAR.

As per the IATA, in 2015, there were 10,854 reported cases of unruly behaviour by the passengers across airlines worldwide, which translate into one incident for every 1,205 flights.

The no-fly list has been amended by Air India from the day Gaikwad hit 62-year-old staffer R. Sukumar with his slipper.