Government unveils National No Fly List for domestic passengers

NEW DELHI: Passengers misbehaving on domestic flights could face a ban on flying, with the government implementing a new set of rules to tackle a problem that causes security risks.

The revised Civil Aviation Requirement that came into effect on Friday classifies unruly behaviour into three categories and prescribes flying restrictions on the offender based on the degree of the offence.

The ban could range from three months to two years or more, it says, but without mentioning a clear maximum limit for the restrictions or whether a passenger could be barred for life.

“This so-called no-fly list has been brought out keeping in mind the safety of passengers, crew and the aircraft, and is based on a security threat perception,” civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said, while announcing the rules.

The idea of creating such a list came after airlines banned two Parliament members earlier this year for allegedly misbehaving with their staff. While Air India banned Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad and then IndiGo took similar action against TDP’s JC Diwakar Reddy, other airlines also refused to fly the two MPs. There have also been many incidents of passengers creating nuisance mid-air, including fighting with crew and fellow passengers.

Airlines have to Set Up Internal Panels
The revised Civil Aviation Requirement on unruly passenger behaviour is applicable for all Indian operators engaged in scheduled and non-scheduled services. The onus of preparing the list of such passengers is on the airlines, but one airline is not bound to follow the list prepared by another — that means, a passenger banned by an airline could still fly if a rival carrier allowed him to do so.

Under the new rules, Level 1 of offence would include unruly verbal behaviour. A passenger found guilty under this could be banned from flying for up to three months. Offences related to physical behaviour come under Level 2 and the offender could face a ban of up to six months. If a passenger’s behaviour is considered life threatening, like affecting the safety of the aircraft, then he or she could be banned for up to two years or more.

“Such a policy is welcome as it will protect the interests and well-being of travellers and airline staff who are unfortunately at the receiving end of abusive and disruptive passengers,” said a spokesperson for full-service carrier Vistara.

According to the new rules, every domestic airline needs to set up an internal committee under the chairmanship of a retired district and sessions judge to probe incidents of unruly passenger behaviour. The committee’s members can be from other scheduled airlines, passenger associations, consumer associations or retired officials of the consumer dispute redressal forum.



The committee will have to decide on the cases within 30 days, including on the duration of the ban. If it fails to come up with a decision within that period, the passenger accused of unruly behaviour will be free to fly. The rules provide for an appeal mechanism. The appeal needs to be filed with an appellate committee to be constituted by the civil aviation ministry, within 60 days of internal committee’s order.

Airlines will have to submit the list of unruly passengers to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and the regulator will put it up on its website. While industry executives who spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity welcomed the decision to create no-fly lists of passengers, some were unsure about the need to form an internal panel with a judge on it to probe the incidents. “Airlines have always avoided filing police complaint against unruly passengers because that requires the crew involved to be present every time the police want them for an inquiry,” said one of the executives, who expects the inclusion of judges on the panel to create similar issues during probes.