Airlines seem to be sending out a clear message to passengers, 'behave yourself or face handcuffs'. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given a nod to airlines to carry restrainers like plastic handcuffs to control unruly passengers and make them seated till the plane lands safely.
As per DGCA guidelines, the crew members must attempt to defuse a critical situation until it becomes clear that there is no way to resolve through verbal communication and written notice to passenger. Applying restraining devices should be used when all conciliatory approaches have been exhausted.
Airlines like IndiGo already have such similar mechanisms in place. "An unruly passenger/s might have potential for unlawful interference in flight. In the interest of safety and to avoid inconvenience to fellow passengers we, therefore, profile our passengers," IndiGo said in a statement.
Jet airways also maintained that they don't currently use restrainers but will be implementing the practice soon since DGCA has issued guidelines. "This will be done only in the rarest of rare cases and as a last resort. This will be done in the interest of safety of passengers and crew members," it said in a statement.
There have been several instances in the past when passengers caused flight delays and had to be offloaded.
Just a few days back, on January 25, 2016, Indigo offloaded 3 passengers for unruly behaviour and argued with the crew over luggage limit. They reached a compromise later after police intervened in the matter.
On January 22, 2016, Indigo offloaded 70 flyers from Hyderabad-Raipur flight after the flyers threatened the crew over exchange of seats. The passengers were accommodated on the next flight to Raipur.
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