Air safety legislation by April-end

APAI draws attention to SpiceJet, Air Deccan issues

BY A CORRESPONDENT
March 20, 2006

The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) has said that the proposed guidelines for safety and rights of passengers will be ready by April. The draft, formulated in consultation with legal experts and is based on European Union guidelines, and will be able to outline legal rights for passengers. By April-end, the draft will be passed into legislation after going through the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

APAI President D Sudhakara Reddy said that "the draft guidelines are almost ready. We have given it to some aviation experts for their feedback. Once the final draft is ready, we will submit it to the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry to enable its legislation." He highlighted several instances of inconvenience caused to passengers, especially women and children, and disabled people, with airlines making no effort at compensation or practicing ethical discrimination.

He pointed out that SpiceJet had charged its physically handicapped travellers an extra Rs.500, which is not an ethical practice. Meanwhile, he also stressed safety guidelines, indicating the incident in which an Air Deccan ATR-72-500 series aircraft, which skidded off the runway in Bangalore. He specially highlighted the need for low-cost airlines to implement safety norms, as there is concern that they are not following Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stipulations.

A Hindu report quoted Reddy as saying: "Air passengers have the right to know about the Bangalore incident. The DGCA's investigation report has to be made public and suitable penalty initiated against the operator."

Further, he told ET, "Has any research or study been done to check and arrive at guidelines to ensure that one is physically and mentally fit to pilot a plane at this age, and if so, are these guidelines being followed?"

Passengers can file their complaints at www.air-passenger.com.