Air India's regional arm Alliance Air has become one of the first airlines in India to put passengers on the No Fly List for not wearing masks on board.
The development comes after aviation regulator DGCA issued a direction on Sunday saying that passengers who do not wear masks properly even after repeated warnings could be deboarded before departure.
The circular stated that people on board found not following Covid-appropriate behaviour or not wearing masks despite repeated warnings would be treated as “unruly” passengers and action would be taken against them by the concerned airline.
Four passengers travelling on from Jammu to Delhi were deboarded by the crew after they refused to wear mask despite repeated requests from the pilot in command.
After the flight landed at Delhi Airport, the four passengers were handed over to security agencies. The airline also informed DGCA that they had been marked as unruly passengers by the airline.
India's No Fly List rules, unveiled in 2017, have a provision for banning unruly passengers from a minimum three months to a maximum of two years depending on the severity of the incident.
In fact, India's largest airline IndiGo last year barred 9 TV journalists from flying with the airline for 15 days over their alleged unruly behaviour onboard a flight in which actor Kangana Ranaut was travelling to Mumbai from Chandigarh in September.
The journalists, while chasing Ranaut for a byte, had violated social distancing norms on board.
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU