What is air rage?
It is usually defined as behaviour by passengers who fail to respect the rules of conduct on board a passenger/civilian aircraft or to follow the instructions of crew members and in turn disturb the good order and discipline on a flight. A majority of airline crew who were interviewed for a BBC programme felt that air rage was putting their lives at risk.
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How is air rage dealt with in India?
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The Aircraft Rules, 1937, spell out a course of actions to be taken following disruptive behaviour. Here, Rules 22 and 23 highlight the parameters under which action can be taken under the jurisdiction of India, and the crucial role of the pilot-in-command in initiating action with the competent authorities. The government is also said to be looking at an institutional mechanism to deal with the problem. Airlines in India are beginning to take some steps to put in place a “no-fly” list.
And how is it abroad?
In the U.S., data by leading aviation bodies such as the FAA and those representing airline professionals record up to an estimated 10,000 such cases a year. Airlines reported some 10,854 unruly incidents to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last year. Airlines in general have measures to deal with disruptive passengers which include cutting off alcohol supply (identified as among the primary causes of air rage), to warnings, to even subduing passengers with plastic handcuffs and belts. Some airlines are even exploring the use of an “in-flight security officer”. Various flight crew associations are now calling for measures such as “stiffer prosecution” of disruptive passengers, better crew training, and more detailed flight safety briefings. In the U.S., the maximum fine for assaulting a crew member has seen an increase from $1,100 and can even touch $25,000.
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Disrupting a commercial flight can carry a very stiff jail sentence (of up to 20 years) and even a $250,000 fine. A paper by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) highlights the importance of the international treaty, the Tokyo Convention, also known as The Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft. Under this, Articles 1, 6-7, 8 and 12, and finally 9 and 13, focus on dealing with offenders which includes handing over a “serious offender” to the competent authorities. India ratified the Convention in July 1975. The Convention also asks “all contracting states to enact as soon as possible a national law and regulations to deal effectively with the problems of unruly or disruptive passengers”. Under various sections of a model piece of legislation, it includes varying degrees and the gravity of acts and offences such as assault, intimidation or threat, both verbal or physical, against a crew member which interferes with the performance of the duties of the crew member, child molestation and even smoking in a lavatory. A flaw is that it is often left to each “state party” to determine what constitutes an offence under penal laws, as well as establishing what acts may jeopardise safety, order and discipline. There are some grey areas as far as aligning it with other key aviation conventions are concerned.
The final word
IATA, which represents most airlines across the world, is also urging governments to ratify the Montreal Protocol 2014, which was adopted by ICAO. It amends the Tokyo Convention, with a key change being to help airlines deal with incidents. It even has provision for recovery of costs as a result of passenger behaviour. Nearly 100 governments participated in the process.
While there seems to be no standard model for the aviation industry, it often boils down to the rules of each airline. Adopting “no-fly lists” may be the simplest meeting point for most airlines, but as experience in the U.S. shows, these can run into legal hurdles.
There is also the other side — passenger criticism that airlines are also to blame, and not doing enough to address factors giving rise to passenger stress. These include lengthy security procedures, increasing flight delays, shrinking seats and leg room, and steep fees for courtesies such as baggage allowances, which were once free.
Finally, being a service industry, airlines are also conscious of the factor of “image” and generally don’t want to be seen as being against passengers.