While there is a lot of talk about the safety of aircraft, delayed flights and flyers being harassed by airlines, one aspect that has been ignored is unruly passengers and how they can, besides disrupting normal flight schedules, put the safety of the aircraft, passengers and crew at risk. The number of such unruly passengers is increasing. Over 15,000 cases were reported between 2008 and 2011, according to data compiled by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Incidents ranged from drinks being thrown at flight attendants, passengers verbally abusing others or getting into scuffles to flights being diverted in extreme cases.
Now, in a timely move, the global aviation industry is coming together to make it easier to prosecute such passengers. At the heart of the issue is the Tokyo Convention of 1963 which is the only mechanism available to airlines to prosecute such passengers. This convention is the product of a time when hijackings were on the rise, and hence is not of much use in dealing with the problem of unruly passengers. Realising this, IATA wrote to the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) legal committee in 2009 to revise it. The text has gone through various stages and the changed draft will now be discussed at the ICAO diplomatic conference in 2014.
25/12/13 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
Now, in a timely move, the global aviation industry is coming together to make it easier to prosecute such passengers. At the heart of the issue is the Tokyo Convention of 1963 which is the only mechanism available to airlines to prosecute such passengers. This convention is the product of a time when hijackings were on the rise, and hence is not of much use in dealing with the problem of unruly passengers. Realising this, IATA wrote to the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) legal committee in 2009 to revise it. The text has gone through various stages and the changed draft will now be discussed at the ICAO diplomatic conference in 2014.
25/12/13 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line
