Unruly air passenger behaviour incidents under control: DGCA

New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA's chief Arun Kumar has said that incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard flights are under control and rules are now being strictly enforced unlike earlier, when the enforcement was not up to the desired level that led to some embarrassing incidents.

In an interview to PTI, he also asserted that existing rules to deal with unruly air passengers are "sufficient" at this point of time. In recent times, there have been multiple cases of unruly air passenger behaviour, including incidents of a male passenger allegedly urinating on a female co-passenger and people found smoking in the lavatory of flights.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken strict action in these incidents and airlines concerned had also imposed a flying ban on the passengers concerned.

Against this backdrop, the DGCA chief said that airlines are empowered to take action against passengers indulging in unruly behaviour in flights.

"There should be order on board (flights) and everyone travelling in an aircraft needs to follow the rules. We had the regulations in place. However, enforcement was not up to the desired level, leading to some embarrassing incidents taking place onboard," Kumar said.

Kumar, who will be superannuating on February 28, also said that things have improved significantly and regulations are strictly enforced wherever required.

"On an average, there are 4.5 lakh domestic air passengers and 1 lakh international air passengers in the country. There are incidents of unruly behaviour by passengers but those are under control and action is being taken," he said.

When asked whether there is a need to have stricter rules to deal with unruly air passengers, Kumar said at this point of time, existing rules are "sufficient".

"At this point of time, existing rules are sufficient. India has one of the best safety standards in the aviation ecosystem," he said.