Two people familiar with the situation stated on Monday that SpiceJet has placed a senior army commander who reportedly attacked employees at Srinagar airport on a five-year no-fly list. The event happened at the boarding gate of airline SG 386, which was traveling from Srinagar to Delhi, on July 26.
“The traveler who struck the airline employees has been placed on the carrier’s No Fly List after being deemed rowdy. He will not be permitted to travel on any SpiceJet internal or foreign flights for five years, per standard procedure,” one of the officials, who asked to remain anonymous, stated.
According to a second official, an internal committee established under the Civil Aviation Rules (CAR) reached the decision and suggested that the passenger be banned. Three independent individuals made up this committee: one person from another airline and two retired judges.
According to the regulations, passengers who feel wronged have sixty days to file an appeal with an appellate committee that is led by a former high court judge. Representatives from other airlines, passenger associations, consumer associations, and retired officers from the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum are also members of the panel.
“The airline has been instructed to ban the passenger after the committee established in accordance with civil aviation regulations (CAR) made the decision,” the official continued. HT’s efforts for a comment from SpiceJet were not answered.
The airline previously stated that the dispute started when workers told the officer that his two cabin bags weighed 16 kg, which was more than twice the 7 kg limit. “The passenger blatantly violated aviation security procedures by forcing their way into the aerobridge without finishing the boarding process after being courteously told of the extra luggage and asked to pay the relevant fees.”
The airline had stated that a CISF official had taken him back to the gate. It further stated, “The passenger became more hostile at the gate and physically attacked four SpiceJet ground crew members.”
The staff member’s jaw was injured and their spine was fractured. On August 3, a video of the event that showed the police striking employees with a line stand went viral. While the airline responded to the civil aviation ministry to express their disapproval of the assault on its employees and to request appropriate action against the passenger, a formal complaint was filed.
Additionally, the airline sent over the CCTV footage of the incident to the police after obtaining it from the airport authorities. The army announced in a statement on August 3 that it is fully assisting the authorities in their investigation of the issue.
Misconduct is divided into three categories under the civil aviation rules (CAR) on unruly passengers: Level 1 offenses carry a maximum three-month suspension, Level 2 offenses carry a maximum six-month ban, and Level 3 offenses carry a minimum two-year or longer penalty. According to the regulations, passengers who feel wronged have sixty days to file an appeal with an appellate committee.
In addition to a representative from another airline and a customer or consumer organization, this committee is led by a retired district or sessions judge. The committee has 30 days to make a conclusion, and the airline must abide by that ruling. At the same time, there has been a steady increase in the number of people who are prohibited from flying. In the past five years, India has put 379 passengers on the no-fly list, the civil aviation ministry recently told Parliament.
Although there were just 10 individuals on the list in 2020, that number increased to 66 in 2021 and 110 in 2023, the largest number to date. Till July 30 this year, 48 passengers had already been blacklisted.