March 17: Initiating a safety plan, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has said that those citizens who refuse to wear a mask properly over the face or ignore the social distancing protocols during any flights will find themselves on the ‘No-fly list’ for 2 to 3 months or even 2 years or more as well. Also, they might be dropped off the plane as well.
As per the report recently, Justice C Hari Shankar has directed DGCA and domestic airlines to strictly follow the guidelines ensuring that the passengers follow the masking protocol and the ones who don’t follow them must be put under a No-fly regimen.
The reports also said that the decision was introduced soon after the Delhi High Court judge noticed that the passengers are reluctant of wearing proper face masks on a flight that he boarded.
Also read: DGCA orders no pilots, cabin crew allowed to fly within 48 hours after getting Covid vaccination
As coronavirus is beginning its second wave, the move has been in wake of it as the government is trying to contain the spread of the virus any further.
The DGCA circular that was issued recently stated, “In case, any passenger on board an aircraft refuses to wear a mask or violates the COVID-19 protocol for passengers even after repeated warnings during the course of the flight, such passenger may be treated as ‘unruly passenger’ and the procedure in respect of handling such unruly passenger as provided in CAR shall be followed by the concerned airline”.
