IATA urges clampdown on unruly passengers
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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments to close legal loopholes that allow unruly passengers to escape punishment for offences committed onboard aircraft.
On Tuesday (26 March 2014), governments gathered in Montreal for a conference at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and one of the issues on the agenda was the proposed reform of the Tokyo Convention, which dictates passenger prosecutions.
The revisions are intended to make it easier for authorities to punish passengers who are violent, disruptive or abusive.
“Airlines are doing all they can to prevent and manage unruly passenger incidents, but this needs to be backed up with effective law enforcement,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general & CEO.
“Reports of unruly behaviour are on the rise. The Tokyo Convention was not originally designed to address unruly behaviour and there is a great deal of uncertainty amongst carriers as to what actions crew can take to manage incidents in the air. And if the aircraft lands in a state other than where the aircraft was registered, local authorities are not always able to prosecute.”
The Tokyo Convention was negotiated in 1963 and means that offences committed onboard aircraft must be dealt with by the country where the aircraft is registered. But IATA argues that due to the complexity of modern leasing arrangements, the state of aircraft registration is often neither the country in which the aircraft lands nor the home nation of the airline.
“This limits the practicality of enforcement and consequently the options available to mitigate disruptive behaviours,” the association said.
“At the moment there are too many examples of people getting away with serious breaches of social norms that jeopardise the safety of flights because local law enforcement authorities do not have the power to take action.” said Tyler. “Closing these legal loopholes will better deter such behaviour and make passengers think twice before acting in ways that may put the safety of many at risk.”
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