Unruly air passengers face flying ban of 3 months to lifetime

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday unveiled the first-ever guidelines on no-fly list under which air travellers can now be banned from flying for a period ranging from three months to lifetime for unruly behaviour on a plane.

Several airlines have been demanding a no-fly list of disruptive passengers following an incident in which Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad allegedly hit an Air India staffer with his slipper "25 times" over not being given a business class seat in an all-economy plane.

The country is the first in the world to have a no-fly list that is based on safety and not just security, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said at a press conference.

Aviation regulator DGCA will maintain the record of all such blacklisted passengers. The quantum of punishment is based on the severity of the offence, which has been divided into three categories.

The first level of misdemeanour is verbal harassment and will invite a flying ban of three months.

The second level comprises physically abusive behaviour which will carry a ban of six months.

The third category consists of life threatening behaviour and will carry a flying ban of two years or more without limit, they said.

According to a mechanism laid down by the ministry, after the pilot-in-command of a plane complains about a passenger, the airline's internal committee will probe the matter and decide the quantum of the ban within a period of 30 days.

If the committee fails to give a decision within this period the passenger will be free to fly.