In an attempt to tackle the unruly and disruptive behaviour of travelers on aircraft, the aviation ministry today released the guidelines to prepare a no-fly list.
"To ensure safety and check unruly & disruptive behaviour on aircraft, we will put in place, mechanism for country's first No-Fly list today," said Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
So what happens if someone is unruly on a flight?
According to the guidelines, there are three levels of offence.
In the first level, a passenger will get a ban of up to three months for unruly physical gestures, verbal harassment and unruly inebriation. If the passenger engages in physical abuse (pushing, kicking, hitting, inappropriate touching) he/she will be banned for up to six months. The passenger will face a minimum of two years of ban for "life threatening behaviour", assaults and damage to the aircraft.
The minister said that the no-fly ban will be in addition to any statutory legal action that can be taken against the offender under existing laws.
"Decision will be taken by an independent committee under a retired District Judge within a period of 30 days of alleged offence," the minister added.
The move to put in place a no-fly list follows an incident involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad who hit an Air India staffer "25 times" with a slipper for not being allowed to fly business class in an all-economy plane earlier this year. A draft of the proposed no-fly list was floated in May following the incident. Air India and other airlines had barred the MP from flying. However, after government's intervention, Air India had to back out.