Mumbai: A female passenger allegedly assaulted a female staff member at the Air India Express counter at Mumbai airport. The passenger was later handed over to the police. The incident happened on Sunday.
"On 1st September, a passenger at Mumbai airport misbehaved with a staff member of our ground operations partner. The Duty Manager promptly notified CISF, and the passenger was handed over to the police in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures," an Air India Express spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Air India Express reiterates its zero-tolerance approach to any behaviour that jeopardises the safety and well-being of our guests and employees, and those of our partners,” the airline added.
How are airlines supposed to respond to incidents of unruly behaviour of passengers?
The airline should inform passengers that unruly behavior, as defined by guidelines, could result in arrest.
Unruly behaviour includes (but is not limited to): consuming liquor or drugs resulting in unruly behaviour; smoking; not obeying the pilot’s instructions; using threatening or abusive language against crew or other passengers; physically threatening and abusive behaviour; intentionally interfering with discharge of duties by the crew; and endangering the safety of the aircraft and those on board.
What are the categories of cases of unruly behaviour?
- Level 1: Disruptive behavior (physical gestures, verbal harassment, unruly inebriation, etc.
- Level 2: Physically abusive behavior (pushing, kicking, hitting, grabbing or inappropriate touching or sexual harassment, etc.
- Level 3: Life-threatening behavior (damage to aircraft operating system, physical violence such as choking, eye gouging, murderous assault, attempted or actual breach of the flight crew compartment, etc.)
How to handle it?
- In cases where the cabin crew cannot control an unruly passenger in-flight, the pilot must assess the situation and, if necessary, land at the nearest available airport.
- Upon landing of aircraft, pilot-in-command shall lodge FIR with security agency at the airport and hand over the unruly passenger to security agency.
- Whenever an airline receives a complaint of unruly/disruptive behavior by a passenger, then the incident shall be referred by the airline to an Internal Committee.
- The airline can impose an immediate ban of up to 30 days on the individual and notify the DGCA to add them to the No-Fly list. Other carriers may also impose bans depending on the severity of the offense.
(With agencies input)
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