Miss Alone
Prime VIP
Indian skies keep seeing their share of unruly passengers who threaten fellow passengers or crew but now this menace has taken a new, and vulgar, turn. A flyer reportedly stripped himself in the lavatory of an aircraft recently and then wanted the air hostesses to help him out.
This unprecedented episode happened on IndiGo's Bhubaneswar-Delhi flight exactly a month back. "During the course of the flight, the male passenger in question expressed to the crew that he does not know how to tie the seat belt. The crew assisted him on the same," the airline said in a statement.
"The passenger then went to the lavatory where he pressed the lavatory call bell requesting assistance in the aircraft lavatory. The crew immediately went to the lavatory to help him but saw him in an objectionable state. The female crew member refused to go inside and politely requested him to maintain some level of decency while using the lavatory," it added.
The passenger then somehow came out of the toilet but his alleged misbehaviour did not stop. While securing passengers for landing, "the passenger passed derogatory remarks to the female crew member".
The crew then informed the captain of the flight 6E-256 who alerted security agencies in Delhi. After landing, the passenger was off-loaded from the aircraft and handed over to the police. "Consequently the FIR was lodged in a local police station in Delhi. The matter is being investigated by the concerned authorities. Customer satisfaction is core to our business, however any untoward conduct, which compromises on the security of our crew and passengers is of a serious concern to us, and as a responsible corporate citizen we will take all necessary action to address this violation," the IndiGo statement said.
Some Indian airlines have from earlier this year started carrying plastic handcuffs to ensure that unruly passengers remain in their seats and do not threaten fellow passengers or flight safety. All airlines have made it clear they will not tolerate any behaviour that threatens flight safety and will hand over such flyers to the police.
In fact, the problem of unruly flyers is on the rise globally. Recently, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said airlines across the world reported 10,854 cases of unruly passenger incidents onboard aircraft in 2015. "This equates to one incident for every 1,205 flights, an increase from the 9,316 incidents reported in 2014 (or one incident for every 1,282 flights)," an IATA statement said.
The majority of incidents involved verbal abuse, failure to follow lawful crew instructions and other forms of anti-social behaviour. "A significant proportion (11%) of reports indicated physical aggression towards passengers or crew or damage to the aircraft. Alcohol or drug intoxication was identified as a factor in 23% of cases, though in the vast majority of instances these were consumed prior to boarding or from personal supply without knowledge of the crew," IATA added.
Some Indian airlines also want curbs on sale of liquor in departure areas as a majority of drunk unruly passengers board the aircraft in an inebriated state and then cause trouble on board. Cabin crew keeps track of how many drinks they have served a flyer and do not cross the 'danger' level, depending on passenger behaviour and how he or she handle their drinks.
This unprecedented episode happened on IndiGo's Bhubaneswar-Delhi flight exactly a month back. "During the course of the flight, the male passenger in question expressed to the crew that he does not know how to tie the seat belt. The crew assisted him on the same," the airline said in a statement.
"The passenger then went to the lavatory where he pressed the lavatory call bell requesting assistance in the aircraft lavatory. The crew immediately went to the lavatory to help him but saw him in an objectionable state. The female crew member refused to go inside and politely requested him to maintain some level of decency while using the lavatory," it added.
The passenger then somehow came out of the toilet but his alleged misbehaviour did not stop. While securing passengers for landing, "the passenger passed derogatory remarks to the female crew member".
The crew then informed the captain of the flight 6E-256 who alerted security agencies in Delhi. After landing, the passenger was off-loaded from the aircraft and handed over to the police. "Consequently the FIR was lodged in a local police station in Delhi. The matter is being investigated by the concerned authorities. Customer satisfaction is core to our business, however any untoward conduct, which compromises on the security of our crew and passengers is of a serious concern to us, and as a responsible corporate citizen we will take all necessary action to address this violation," the IndiGo statement said.
Some Indian airlines have from earlier this year started carrying plastic handcuffs to ensure that unruly passengers remain in their seats and do not threaten fellow passengers or flight safety. All airlines have made it clear they will not tolerate any behaviour that threatens flight safety and will hand over such flyers to the police.
In fact, the problem of unruly flyers is on the rise globally. Recently, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said airlines across the world reported 10,854 cases of unruly passenger incidents onboard aircraft in 2015. "This equates to one incident for every 1,205 flights, an increase from the 9,316 incidents reported in 2014 (or one incident for every 1,282 flights)," an IATA statement said.
The majority of incidents involved verbal abuse, failure to follow lawful crew instructions and other forms of anti-social behaviour. "A significant proportion (11%) of reports indicated physical aggression towards passengers or crew or damage to the aircraft. Alcohol or drug intoxication was identified as a factor in 23% of cases, though in the vast majority of instances these were consumed prior to boarding or from personal supply without knowledge of the crew," IATA added.
Some Indian airlines also want curbs on sale of liquor in departure areas as a majority of drunk unruly passengers board the aircraft in an inebriated state and then cause trouble on board. Cabin crew keeps track of how many drinks they have served a flyer and do not cross the 'danger' level, depending on passenger behaviour and how he or she handle their drinks.
