Unruly Fliers Could Be Banned For Life: No-Fly Rules In 10 Points

The new flying rules will apply to foreign carriers as well, the civil aviation ministry said.

Highlights

New rules will apply to foreign carriers as well: civil aviation ministry
Unruly behaviour categorised as verbal, physical and life threatening
Safety and security of passengers topmost priority: Jayant Sinha

New Delhi: Under new no-fly rules framed by the government, unruly passengers face a ban on flying from a minimum three months to a lifetime, depending on the nature of the misdemeanour. The new rules will apply to foreign carriers as well, the civil aviation ministry said today. They were expedited after a Shiv Sena lawmaker assaulted an Air India official earlier this year. Weeks later a lawmaker of the Telugu Desam Party had damaged airport property for being denied a boarding pass after arriving late for a flight. Both were grounded for a while.

Here's your 10-point cheatsheet to the story:

In the new rules, unruly behaviour has been categorised into three levels - verbal, physical and life threatening. Rude gestures, verbal harassment and drunken unruliness will attract a ban up to three months from flying.
Physically abusive behaviour like pushing, kicking, hitting or inappropriate touching will mean a ban of up to six months, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said.
Level 3 is what has been listed as life threatening behaviour and includes assault and damage to aircraft systems. It carries a ban of two years or more, without limit.
The degree of offence will be decided by an independent committee led by a retired District Judge within a period of 30 days of the incident.
The government said the no-fly ban will be in addition to any legal action that can be taken against an offender under existing laws.
Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the rules have been drafted after consultations and "are balanced and should be well-accepted."
The concept is based on the safety of other passengers, crew and the aircraft, and not just on a security threat, the government said as it announced the new no-fly rules.
The safety and security of passengers, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said, is the topmost priority for his ministry.
The drafting of a no-fly list was prompted by Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad's attack in March on an Air India official for not being given a business class seat on an all-economy flight. He had repeatedly hit the employee with a slipper.
In June, JC Diwakar Reddy, a lawmaker the TDP, which is also Mr Raju's party, had damaged airport property and abused an IndiGo ground staff at the Visakhapatnam airport after he was denied boarding for turning up late for his flight.