Delhi HC rejects petition seeking mechanism to address ‘misconduct’ by airline staff against passengers

The Delhi high court has dismissed a petition seeking directions to the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to establish a mechanism for receiving, investigating and addressing complaints against airline personnel over allegations of misconduct, abuse, harassment, negligence, misbehaviour and other wrongful acts towards passengers.

A bench of Justice Amit Mahajan, in his November 3 verdict, released on November 4, held that the formulation of rules, regulations and regulatory guidelines falls within the domain of the competent authorities and is a matter of policy.

“The formulation of rules, regulations and regulatory guidelines falls within the domain of the competent authorities and is a matter of policy. The purpose of providing mechanisms to address passenger misconduct is to ensure the safety and security of airports and flights. With regard to any unruly behaviour by airline personnel, the same can be dealt with in appropriate civil/criminal remedies,” justice Mahajan said.

The court issued the direction while hearing a woman’s petition seeking directions to the ministry of civil aviation and the DGCA to frame rules, regulations and guidelines under the existing Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) to address the alleged regulatory gap concerning misconduct, abuse, harassment, negligence, misbehaviour and other wrongful acts committed by airline personnel against passengers.

In her petition, the woman alleged that a customer-care executive of IndiGo airlines had used “vulgar, abusive and gendered language” while interacting with her. She submitted that despite making several representations to the airline seeking accountability and disciplinary action against the concerned employee, no meaningful action was taken. No immediate response from IndiGo was available.

She further argued that the existing CARs do not provide any specific mechanism to address misconduct, harassment or misbehaviour by airline personnel towards passengers. She said that while the regulations prescribe stringent, deterrent consequences for passenger misconduct, there is no equally effective or enforceable framework to address wrongful conduct by airline staff.

She also alleged that the Centre and the DGCA, despite being the competent regulatory authorities, had failed to address the issue despite repeated representations. No immediate response from the Centre or the DGCA was available.