The draft rules of the no fly list were floated in May (Representational image)
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said Friday that the details of a mechanism for the country’s first no-fly list will be announced today.
“To ensure safety and check unruly & disruptive behaviour on aircraft, we will put in place, mechanism for country’s first No-Fly list today,” Raju tweeted.
A draft of the proposed no-fly list was floated in May with the ministry holding internal discussions to define a ‘boundary’ crossing which an unruly passenger would be put in the list. A number of incidents involving members of Parliament such as Ravindra Gaikwad of the Shiv Sena and JC Diwakar Reddy of the TDP assaulting airline staff had resulted in clamour for an official no-fly list. Airlines such as Air India and IndiGo had barred the two MPs from flying for a few days after which they backed out.
“We need to ensure that a no-fly list is not used arbitrarily. After all, the initial decision to ban the passenger will be that of the airline before it is deliberated upon by a committee constituted by it,” a senior aviation ministry official told the Indian Express in July.
Three levels of severity of unruly behaviour, based on which three durations of prohibition on flying will be recommended — three months, six months and indefinitely — were proposed by the ministry in the draft norms of the no-fly list. The draft rules state that post an immediate act of misdemeanour by a passenger, an airline can prohibit the passenger from flying with it for ten days.
