The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to Air India after it failed to comply with the provisions related to handling of unruly passengers on board the AI-142 from Paris to New Delhi on December 6.
Two incidents of passenger misbehaviour were reported on that flight that were brought to the notice of the DGCA. The latest notice comes less than a week after the Tata Group-promoted airline received a similar notice in relation to an incident that occurred on the New York-Delhi on November 26.
One passenger caught smoking in the lavatory was drunk and not listening to the crew, while another allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and blanket of a fellow female passenger when she went to the lavatory, a note from the DGCA said, referring to the AI-142 flight.
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Air India didn’t report the incident until DGCA sought the incident report from them on January 5.
“Prima facie, it emerges that provisions related to handling of unruly passengers as per DGCA CAR Section -3, Series-M, Part-VI have not been complied with. It has been noted that the response of the airline has been lackadaisical and delayed,” DGCA said.
Air India has been given two weeks to submit their reply on the latest show-cause notice seeking why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations.
As per the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), an airline is responsible for informing the DGCA within 12 hours of landing of the aircraft in case of any incident of unruly passengers/passenger rage/passenger misconduct reported in their flight.
An internal committee comprising retired district & session judge as chairman, a representative from a different scheduled airline as member, and a representative from a passengers association or consumer association or retired officer of consumer dispute redressal forum.
The internal committee decides the duration of ban for flying of the unruly passenger within 30 days and it can extend from zero day to lifetime ban. During the pendency of the decision by it, the concerned airline may ban such unruly passengers from flying for a period not exceeding 30 days.
The airline is supposed to maintain a database of all such unruly passengers and inform the same to DGCA who is the custodian for maintaining the “No-Fly List”. The period for which an unruly passenger can be put on “No-Fly List” is the sole decision of the internal committee of the concerned airline.