Unruly passenger behaviour unacceptable: Jyotiraditya Scindia

After a passenger assaulted a pilot onboard an IndiGo aircraft, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asserted that unruly passenger behaviour is unacceptable. He also stressed that all stakeholders are working round the clock to minimise fog-related impact.

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said unruly passenger behaviour is unacceptable, amid a passenger assaulting an IndiGo pilot while he was making an announcement on flight delay.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Scindia said all stakeholders are working round the clock to minimise fog-related impact. Against the backdrop of a passenger assaulting a pilot onboard an IndiGo aircraft at the Delhi airport on Sunday, the minister said unruly behaviour is unacceptable.

"Incidences of unruly behaviour amidst this are unacceptable, and will be dealt with strongly in line with the existing legal provisions," he said. Operations at airports in north India, especially Delhi, were significantly impacted by dense fog on Sunday resulting in diversion, cancellation and delay of many flights.

Several passengers on Monday took to X, formerly known as Twitter regarding the delay on their flights and the operational activity at the Delhi airport. Following the incident, the Delhi Police arrested the passenger, who assaulted the IndiGo pilot, following a complaint by the airline. After the incident, the passenger has been put on a no flyer list by the airline.

According to Scindia, Delhi witnessed on Sunday an unprecedented fog wherein visibility fluctuated for several hours, and at times, dropped to zero between 5 AM to 9 AM.

"The authorities, therefore, were compelled to enforce a shut-down of operations for some time even on CAT III runways (CAT III runways cannot handle Zero-Visibility operations). The decision was taken keeping passenger safety in mind, which remains the foremost priority for all in the aviation ecosystem. However, to mitigate the situation in the near future, following steps have been taken: Delhi Airport has been asked to immediately expedite the operationalization of the CAT III-enabled 4th runway (in addition to the existing CAT III-enabled runway) to the satisfaction of the @DGCAIndia, in order to get approvals and the DGCA will issue an SOP for airlines on better communication and facilitation of passengers to minimise discomfort in view of flight cancellations & delays due to adverse weather," added Scindia, who hails from Madhya Pradesh.