'Limit Alcohol Intake': DCW Chief Swati Maliwal Writes To DGCA To Prevent Unruly Behaviour Against Women On Flights

The Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal has written a letter to the DGCA DG Vikram Dev Dutt, requesting to amend current guidelines to prevent sexual harassment and unruly behaviour against female passengers on flights. The DCW took cognizance of the rising incidents of unruly behaviour on flights, most notably the incidents of peeing on woman passengers by drunk male passengers in recent time. In a letter written to the new DGCA, the DCW Chief has asked to amend the current guidelines to deal with unruly passenger behaviour strictly and swiftly at airports and flights.

The letter by DCW stated that "the Commission has drafted detailed recommendations on amendments that should be made to prevalent guidelines so that cases of sexual harassment & unruly behaviour are dealt with strictly on flights and in airports." DCW chief requests him to consider the same and provide an Action Taken Report within 30 days.

नशे की हालत में फ्लाइट में यात्रियों द्वारा महिला सहयात्री पर Urinate करने और ऐसी कई और घटनाओं की रोकथाम के लिए दिल्ली महिला आयोग ने DGCA को अहम सुझाव भेजे हैं। pic.twitter.com/MudzJVidOG — Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) March 15, 2023

The DCW Chief quoted two specific incidents of harassment and misconduct by passengers in two flights, one on 26 November, 2022 in which a man reportedly urinated on a 70 year old woman in an Air India flight from New York to New Delhi and another on 6 December, 2022 in which a man again urinated on the seat of his fellow woman passenger on an Air India flight from Paris to New Delhi.

In both the cases, it has been reported that both these men were in a highly intoxicated state and the airline failed to report the incidents to the DGCA. The Commission took suo-moto cognizance of these incidents and issued a notice to DGCA seeking details of the action taken by them in the above mentioned incidents along with the guidelines issued by the body to airlines for tackling such cases.  

The DCW found the steps taken by the DGCA unsatisfactory, stating that the "recently issued advisory merely draws the attention of the pilot and crew members to their specific duties defined under the existing laws and guidelines and fails to direct the airlines to take concrete steps to prevent the occurrence of any similar cases in the future."

Following the same, the DCW has recommended a multi point guidelines for the amendments to the existing rules. In one such guideline, DCW has recommended to 'Limit alcohol intake on flights'. The recommendation reads, "An order must be issued to all the airlines to limit the amount of alcohol that can be served on flight to one person across business and economy class. This will help in preventing people from getting severely intoxicated on flights."

Another suggestion talks about the use of restraining devices, "The CAR guideline allows for application of restraining devices on unruly passengers in certain cases. An SOP should be developed for the same through which the crew may consider using restraining devices against a person indulging in sexual harassment/ unruly behaviour/ acting out in a highly intoxicated state if no other means have worked to stop him."