BackRavindra Gaikwad’s assault on Air India staffer sparks push for no-fly list
The government is working on an institutional mechanism to check undesirable flight behaviour while Air India is mulling preparing a no-fly list for unruly passengers
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New Delhi: After a lawmaker thrashed an airline official for not getting a business-class seat, India’s carriers are rallying around to create the nation’s first “no-fly" list in a bid to bar unruly passengers from flights.
Outraged at not getting premium seating, a member of parliament belonging to the Shiv Sena, a regional party in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition, on Thursday refused to deplane after his flight landed in New Delhi.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad booked by Delhi Police for assaulting Air India staffer
With a sandal, Ravindra Gaikwad repeatedly hit a shift manager who was sent to calm him down, while threatening to throw the man off the aircraft, flag carrier Air India Ltd said in a statement the same day. Video of the incident showed him pushing the airline employee toward the door.
Air India said it had informed the MP’s staff in advance that the aircraft didn’t have a business class. The passenger was accommodated in the first row of the all-economy plane because he wanted to take that particular flight, the carrier said.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad won’t apologize over Air India incident
State-run Air India and members of the Federation of Indian Airlines have decided to ban the MP from all their flights with immediate effect, and sought the government’s support to enforce a “no-fly" list, they said in a statement Friday.
India’s federal government is creating an institutional mechanism to check “undesirable flight behaviour or unruly passengers," civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said in a Twitter post.
Instances of air rage on commercial flights globally are on the rise, with alcohol and drugs involved in less than a quarter of cases, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The organization, which represents 265 airlines accounting for 83% of global traffic, is urging governments to ratify the 2014 Montreal Protocol, aimed at closing loopholes in international legal accords concerning unruly passengers.
State-run Air India has filed two police reports against the lawmaker, and assured all staff of management support, chairman Ashwani Lohani wrote in a memo to staff, excerpts of which were given to reporters. The Federation of Indian Airlines includes IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Go Air. Bloomberg
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