Govt announces no-fly list rules, three months to life ban on flying for unruly passengers

Unruly air travellers will be banned from flying for a period ranging from three months to lifetime, the government announced on Friday.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has recommended three levels of unruly behaviour by passengers, each with a different duration of the ban on flying, the ministry officials said.

The first level of a 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.

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The move comes in the wake of some incidents, including one involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad who allegedly hit an Air India staffer with a slipper for not getting a business class seat.

He had a business class ticket but he had to travel the economy class because the flight was an all-economy one.

According to a mechanism laid down by the ministry, after the pilot-in-command of a plane complaints about a passenger, the airline’s internal committee will probe the matter and decide the quantum of 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.