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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION
TECHNICAL CENTRE, OPPOSITE SAFDARJUNG AIRPORT, NEW DELHI
CIVIL AVIATION REQUIREMENTS
SECTION 3 – AIR TRANSPORT
SERIES M PART VI
ISSUE III, ** February, 2026 EFFECTIVE: FORTHWITH
F. No. 23-14/2014-AED
Subject: Handling of Unruly / Disruptive Passengers in Aircraft.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Unlawful/disruptive behaviour on board the aircraft may interfere with the
performance of duties of the crew members or hamper the ability of the
crew members to perform those duties or jeopardize the safety of the
aircraft/persons/property on board/good order & discipline on board, cause
discomfort to other passengers & crew members and may invite penal
action in accordance with applicable regulations. In such a situation,
passengers are expected to abide by law of the land and utilise the means
and resources for grievance redressal as specified by the Government.
1.2 Even if the passenger feels that the redressal system has limitations,
unlawful/disruptive action is certainly not a solution. It may also be noted
that an aircraft or the airport (terminal and the airside) are not a place for
sloganeering, or for protests of any kind. It is imperative that all stake
holders, the airline, the airport operator and the travelling public take
cognizance and prioritize safety, security and hassle-free travel for all
passengers. For this reason, a “ No / Zero Tolerance Policy” has been
adopted to ensure the safety of the aircraft/persons/property and to
maintain good order & discipline on board an aircraft.
1.3 Unruly behaviour on-board aircraft has been declared as an offence and is
a punishable act. Although unruly passengers represent only a miniscule
proportion of passengers as a whole, even one unruly passenger can
jeopardise safety on board. Unruly passengers affect all personnel involved
in the process connected with a flight operation, ultimately affecting the
operation of the flight itself.
11.4 This CAR is issued under the provisions of Rule 22, Rule 23 , Rule 29 and
Rule 133A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.
2. APPLICABILITY
2.1 The provisions contained in this CAR shall be applicable to the following:
a) All Indian operators engaged in scheduled air transport services,
both domestic and international, for carriage of passengers.
b) All airport operators within Indian Territory.
c) All passengers during the period of air travel to/from India.
3. DEFINITIONS
3.1 Unruly passenger - A passenger who fails to respect the rules of conduct at
an airport or on board an aircraft or to follow the instructions of the airport
staff or crew members and thereby disturbs the good order and discipline at
an airport or on board the aircraft.
3.2 Disembarkation means leaving an aircraft after a landing, except by crew or
passengers continuing on the next stage of the same through-flight.
3.3 Embarkation means boarding an aircraft for the purpose of commencing a
flight, except by such crew or passengers as have embarked on a previous
stage of the same through-flight.
4. REQUIREMENTS FOR DEALING WITH UNRULY PASSENGERS
4.1 Every reasonable effort to protect passengers and personnel against any
offence by unruly passengers shall be made.
4.2 Conditions of carriage shall include statutory warning specifying acts which
have been declared unlawful/disruptive under the provisions of the Aircraft
Rules, 1937.
4.3 Airline shall establish Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) including the
role of ground staff, flight crew, airline airport manager and airline central
operational control to deal with unruly passengers while at airport or on-
board the aircraft. The SOP shall be communicated throughout the
organization and especially to all employees who are in direct contact with
passengers, both on the ground and on the aircraft.
4.4 Passengers who are likely to be unruly must be carefully monitored, and if
deemed to pose a threat to the safety and security of the flight, fellow
passengers or staff while on board aircraft, should be refused embarkation
or off-loaded.
4.5 All airlines shall establish mechanism to detect and report unruly passenger
behaviour at check-in, in the lounges, at the boarding gate or any other
place in the terminal building or at the airside in order to prevent such
passengers from boarding. Such cases shall be reported immediately with
law enforcement agency at the aerodrome.
24.6 Unruly behaviour could be the result of an event of unsatisfactory service/
condition or effect of a series of such events that build up. Airline staff
should observe early signs of potential unruly behaviour. Airlines shall focus
and act on these early signs, rather than dealing exclusively with escalated
events. At no stage, the airline staff/crew member shall show discourteous
behaviour during redressal of genuine passenger rights.
4.7 During the flight, crew members must attempt to defuse a critical situation
until it becomes clear that there is no way to resolve it through verbal
communication and written notice to passenger. Applying restraining
devices should be used when all conciliatory approaches have been
exhausted.
4.8 Passengers shall be made aware through display of regulations relating to
‘Unruly passenger’ at prominent locations in the airport terminal building.
Any act, which is considered offence on the ground and invites penal action
as per law, is also an offence if committed on-board aircraft.
4.9 The passenger may also be made aware of DGCA regulations on ‘unruly
passengers’ that in case his/her behaviour falls into one of the following
categories, he/she is likely to be breaking the law and could be arrested on
arrival at destination, or at any other airport where the aircraft commander
may choose to land. However, these clauses are indicative and not
exhaustive:
a) Consumption of, or being under the influence of, alcoholic beverages
or drugs, resulting in unruly behaviour.
b) Smoking or use of electronic smoking devices on board the aircraft
c) Failure to obey the instructions of the pilot-in-command
d) Acting in an unruly manner by:
i) use of any threatening or abusive language towards a member of
the crew or other passengers;
ii) physically assaulting/threatening, behaving in a disorderly or
abusive manner towards crew members or other passengers;
iii) Interfering with or obstructing the performance of the duties of a
crew member.
iv) Engaging in acts of sloganeering/protest
e) Endangering the safety of an aircraft and persons therein
f) Tampering with the aircraft parts or equipment, for e.g. the
unauthorized use of life jackets or tampering of the doors / emergency
exits.
g) Other type of riotous behavior ( for example kicking and banging
heads on other passengers, continuous kicking seat backs or tray
tables etc.)
4.10 Airlines shall categorize all such cases of unruly behaviour on-board the
aircraft as indicated in Para 4.9 to this CAR into following categories:
3a) Level 1: Unruly behaviour (physical gestures, verbal
harassment, unruly inebriation etc.)
b) Level 2: Physically abusive behaviour (pushing, kicking, hitting,
grabbing or inappropriate touching or sexual
harassment etc.)
c) Level 3: Life-threatening behaviour (damage to aircraft operating
systems, physical violence such as choking, eye
gouging, murderous assault etc.)
d) Level 4: Attempted or actual breach of the flight crew
compartment.
4.11 Pilot-in-command shall quickly assess if the cabin crew can control the
unruly passenger and accordingly relay this information to the airline’s
central control on the ground.
4.12 If a seriousness of the situation so warrants, airline’s central control shall, in
consultation with pilot-in-command, identify the alternate aerodrome for
landing of aircraft as quickly as possible. Security agencies, duty manager
at alternate aerodrome and ground staff shall be informed for appropriate
action at landing.
4.13 Upon landing of the aircraft, airline representative shall lodge complaint with
the concerned law enforcement agency at aerodrome, to whom, the unruly
passenger shall be handed over. The crew shall not be required to be
present for filing of a complaint.
4.14 In the event of any unruly or disruptive behaviour occurring within the
airport premises, BCAS / CISF may take appropriate actions, in
coordination with concerned airport and airlines.
5. TRAINING
5.1 Flight crew, cabin crew, airline ground staff and airport staff should be
properly trained and be in knowledge of procedures to deal with unruly /
disruptive passengers.
5.2 The training should provide knowledge on how to detect, defuse and
prevent critical situations, about the causes of various types of disruptive
behaviour and ways to handle critical situations along with reporting
thereto.
5.3 The training modules so designed must include duties of such operating
personnel, ground staff, cabin crew and flight crew dealing with conflict and
its aftermath, ways/means to mitigate the situations that occur due to long
waiting lines, flight being overbooked, delays & diversion/cancellation and
lack of information.
5.4 In an endeavour to defuse a volatile situation, airline shall establish a
4mechanism to continuously observe and analyse incidents of disruptive
behaviour in order to impart relevant training to frontline staff to help them
manage rude and aggressive passengers and prevent such occurrences.
6. REPORTING AND HANDLING OF UNRULY PASSENGERS ON BOARD
THE AIRCRAFT
6.1 Whenever an airline receives a complaint of unruly behaviour from the pilot-
in- command, the incident may, except as provided under Para 8.1 this CAR,
be referred by the airlines to an Independent Committee. This Independent
Committee shall be constituted by the airline and consists of the following:
a) Retired District & Session Judge as Chairman.
b) A representative from a different scheduled Airline as Member.
c) Representative from a passengers association or consumer
association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum
as Member.
6.2 The Independent Committee shall decide the matter within a period of
Forty Five (45) days along with category level of the unruly passenger as
indicated in Para 4.10 of this CAR. The Independent Committee shall also
decide the duration for which the unruly passenger will be banned from
flying in accordance with provisions of Para 9.1 of this CAR.
6.3 Pending decision of the Independent Committee, the concerned airline may
ban such unruly passenger from flying, but such period may not exceed a
period of Forty Five (45) days.
6.4 The Independent Committee shall give the final decision in Forty Five (45)
days by giving the reasons in writing. The decision of the Independent
Committee shall be binding on the airline concerned. In case the
Independent Committee fails to take a decision in Forty Five (45) days, the
passenger will be free to fly.
6.5 The airlines shall maintain a database of all unruly passengers (after
decision by the Independent Committee) and inform the same to
DGCA/other airlines. This shall form a No-Fly List which will be maintained
by DGCA and contain the following information:
a) Full name of the Passenger
b) Contact details viz. phone number, email address, postal address
etc. (as indicated at the time of booking the ticket)
c) Details of identification document, viz., Aadhar card, passport etc.
d) Date of occurrence and details of the incident
e) Sector
f) Flight Number
g) Seat number
h) Category Level (as per para 4.10 of this CAR)
i) Date from which the ban is imposed
j) Period of imposition of ban
5Note: Information given at Para 6.5 (a) to (j) shall be shared with the airlines.
However, it shall not be made public.
6.6 Upon receipt of such intimation, following the decision of the Independent
Committee, other airlines also impose a flying ban on the unruly passenger
for the period specified by the Independent Committee.
6.7 Irrespective of whether the matter is referred for consideration by an
Independent committee, Information of all such incidents / occurrences /
events of unruly behaviour / disruptive passenger shall be brought to the
notice of the DGCA as per Cabin Safety Circular 01 of 2025 “ Reporting
Procedure For Passenger Misconduct / Passenger Rage / Unruly Behaviour” (as
amended time to time).
6.8 Instances of passengers posing a threat to flight safety, or the security of
fellow passengers or operating crew shall be reported to:
a) Airline security official
b) SHO of airport police station
c) CISF
d) BCAS
e) Airport operator.
7. NATIONAL SECURITY
The Ministry of Home Affairs may provide to DGCA and to the airlines, a list
of individuals identified as national security threats for inclusion in the No-
Fly List under Para 6.5 of this CAR. Such cases will not be covered by
appeal provisions as provided under Para 10 of this CAR. Further, National
Security threats list provided by Ministry of Home Affairs shall be shared
with the airlines. However, this list will not be a part of published No Fly List.
Separately, law enforcement agencies may take action in accordance with
applicable law under their jurisdiction.
8. DISRUPTIVE PASSENGER
8.1 Notwithstanding anything contained in Paragraph 6.1 of this CAR, an airline
may directly impose a flying ban for a disruptive passenger for a period not
exceeding thirty days (30) days without referring the matter to the
Independent Committee, where the passenger is found to have committed
any of the following disruptive acts on board an aircraft:
a) Smoking on board the aircraft.
b) Consumption of alcohol
I. Onboard a domestic flight
II. Onboard an international flight, except when such alcohol is
served by the cabin crew.
c) Misuse of an emergency exit or unauthorized use of life-saving
6equipment, including life jackets.
d) Engaging in protests or sloganeering,
e) Unruly conduct arising from intoxication.
f) Any other disorderly or disruptive behaviour, including but not limited
to screaming, causing annoyance to other passengers, or kicking or
banging seat backs or tray tables.
8.2 The airline shall maintain a database of disruptive passengers containing
the particulars specified in Para 6.5(a) to (j) and shall intimate the DGCA
regarding the imposition of a flying ban. However, such disruptive
passenger shall not be placed in the ‘No Fly List’ by DGCA.
9. GENERAL
9.1 For any person, who is placed in the No-Fly List other than at para 8.1,
airlines shall ban him/her from taking flights to/from/within India for a
duration as indicated below:
a) Level 1 upto three months
b) Level 2 upto six months
c) Level 3 & 4 for a minimum period of 2
years or more without limit
d) Persons covered
under Para 7 Barred till such time that the
person is perceived to be -
national security risk by the
Ministry of Home Affairs
9.2 Sale of tickets inadvertently to such person(s) shall not confer a right upon
them to fly. This shall be in addition to any action that may be taken against
them under the appropriate law.
9.3 For every subsequent offence, the person will be banned for twice the
period of previous ban as indicated in the Para 9.1 of this CAR.
9.4 The passenger included in the No-Fly List and passenger banned from
flying due to disruptive behaviour, shall be communicated by the airline
concerned along with the reason thereof and the duration of the ban.
9.5 The airline shall formulate and implement a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP) for the handling of such passengers and for reporting the incidents
to the DGCA, and shall circulate the same among all concerned
stakeholders.
10. Appeal
710.1 Aggrieved persons who are placed in ‘No Fly List’ (other than those
covered under para 7 of this CAR), on receipt of communication of ban
from the airline, may appeal within sixty (60) days from the date of issue of
the order, to an Appellate Committee constituted by the Ministry of Civil
Aviation, consisting of the following:
a) Retired Judge of a High Court as Chairman.
b) Representative from a passenger’s association or consumer
association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum
as Member.
c) Representative of the airlines of the rank not below the rank of
Vice- President or equivalent as Member.
10.2 Any person aggrieved by being classified as a disruptive passenger and
have been imposed flying ban, on receipt of communication from the airline,
may appeal within fifteen (15) days from the date of imposition of ban, to
the independent committee as referred in para 6.1.
10.3 The decision of the Appellate Committee shall be final. Any further appeal
shall lie in a High Court.
(Faiz Ahmed Kidwai)
Director General Civil Aviation
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