Supreme Court rules in the favour of no removal of differently-abled's Prosthetics at airports

Radhika Bansal

04 Dec 2021

The Supreme Court has directed the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ensure that differently-abled persons are not asked to remove prosthetic limbs/callipers to maintain human dignity while ensuring the requirement of security checks.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Justice V Ramasubramanian also said that lifting a person with a disability during air travel or security checkup is inhumane, and held that it should not be done without his or her consent.

"Another aspect we want to mention is about some of the differently-abled people use prosthetic limbs/callipers. Sometimes, they are directed to remove their prosthetic limbs/callipers as a part of the security check.

(Image Courtesy - DNA India)

"In the draft guidelines circulated, it has been mentioned that scanning of prosthetic limbs/callipers though full-body scanner but to what extent differently-abled persons with prosthetic limbs/callipers are required to be checked for security should be in a manner where no such person is asked to remove prosthetic limbs/callipers to maintain human dignity while ensuring the requirement of security checks," the bench said.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Jeeja Ghosh, suffering from cerebral palsy, who was off-loaded by Spicejet while she was on her way from Kolkata to Goa to attend a conference in 2012. 

The top court was apprised that Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) guidelines were revised on July 2, 2021, and now the draft guidelines regarding ''Carriage by Air of Persons with Disability and/or Persons with Reduced Mobility'' have been put in the public domain in the year 2021.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner, raised multiple objections to the draft guidelines.

The top court asked the petitioner to submit their objections/suggestions on the draft guidelines to DGCA.

"We leave it open to the petitioners to submit objections/suggestions to the draft guidelines with a hope that the DGCA shall consider such suggestions even if the time limit for submission of the suggestions has come to an end. Such suggestions may be submitted within 30 days from today," the bench in its December 1 order said.

Jeeja Ghosh was forcibly de-boarded from a Spicejet flight due to her disability. In 2016, the Supreme Court had directed Spicejet to pay Rs 10 lakhs as compensation to Ghosh for violating her right to dignity.

This image is for representative purposes only. (Image Courtesy – Emily Harvey)

The court had issued further directions to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to modify its guidelines to ensure the dignity of persons with disabilities during air travel. The court on Wednesday considered the guidelines framed by the DGCA.

However, it may be recalled that an actor-dancer Sudha Chandran was recently forced to remove her prosthetic limb at a security check at Mumbai Airport. Following an uproar, the CISF was forced to apologize for the inconvenience caused to the actor.

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AirAsia India introduces visually impaired friendly in-flight safety manual

Radhika Bansal

04 Dec 2021

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, AirAsia India on Friday, December 3 introduced an in-flight safety manual in braille in collaboration with the Helen Keller Institute for the Deaf and Deafblind for the visually impaired passengers.

Also, wheelchair assistance can now be pre-booked online on its website and app while getting a flight ticket, it said in a release.

"Different types of wheelchair facilities are available to pre-book for persons with disabilities to access the ramp-up to the ladder point or the aircraft door as well as to reach the cabin," it mentioned.

Wheelchairs to assist guests to be seated inside the cabin are narrower, allowing easier manoeuvring in the aisle of the aircraft, the release stated. "These facilities are provided to guests along with convenient seats at no extra cost," it said.

The airline said it has also demarcated special assistance counters with priority services at all 17 airports it operates from for people with disabilities.

AirAsia India on November 10 started offering special “premium flex fares” that will give passengers several services such as unlimited rescheduling of flight bookings, discounted cancellation fees and free selection of pre-booked meals.

With this special fare, passengers can now make unlimited changes up to two hours before the scheduled flight departure without any fees, its statement said.

AirAsia India is the AirAsia Group’s brand for its subcontinent operations. The low-cost carrier commenced domestic services in June 2014 and plans to grow its route network to service all Indian metropolitan centres and a selection of tier-II cities.

AirAsia India is based at Bangalore Kempegowda International Airport, with secondary hubs in Delhi and Kolkata, and operates Airbus A320 equipment.

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Tata Sons appoints expat CEO for Air India

Radhika Bansal

03 Dec 2021

Ahead of its official takeover in January 2022, Tata Sons have shortlisted an expat CEO to lead Air India. The company has also shortlisted members for reconstituting the board of the airline, according to an Economic Times report.

However, a formal announcement is expected in January 2022, the report said. While the new Air India CEO will finalise the management team for the national carrier, the members of the Air India board will have officials from Tata Sons, group aviation experts, and a retired government official as an independent director.

A marketing and branding plan for Air India is also being put together. Besides, discussions are also ongoing on ways to tackle employee unions.

IMAGE CREDIT - GANESH PANNER

Meanwhile, Talace Limited, which houses Air India and Air Asia, is chalking out a financial plan for working capital requirements like payment of salaries, refurbishing aircraft, and quality control expenses, among others. 

The group's integration team comprising key officials from Tata companies such as Air Asia India, TCS and Tata Steel, are putting together a marketing and branding plan for Air India and will make a presentation to the Tata Sons board officials. Tata Steel officials are being tapped for their understanding in handling employee unions, officials said.

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran is likely to be the head of the Talace group and Bhaskar Bhat, Air Asia CEO, is expected to be a member of the group. Officials close to the government will also be part of the group.

In another significant development, the Tata group is also in the process of acquiring a stake in Kerala’s Cochin airport, the third-largest airport in India in terms of international passenger traffic connecting India to West Asian countries.

With this, the Tata Group would become the only company to have an operational stake in a major Indian airport, according to a Business Standard report. Currently, Air India has a 3% stake in Cochin International Airport.

In October, the Centre had signed a share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for the sale of Air India for INR 18,000 crore.

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China gives green light to Boeing 737 Max after "corrective actions"

Radhika Bansal

03 Dec 2021

China said Boeing's 737 MAX planes were airworthy after taking "corrective actions" to improve their safety, according to an aviation authority directive on Thursday, December 2, following the aeroplanes being grounded in 2019 after two fatal accidents.

Beijing was the first among a slew of countries to ground Boeing planes after an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March 2019 killed all 157 passengers and crew on board, only five months after another Boeing jet went down in Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board.

But a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) document concluded that "after conducting the sufficient assessment, CAAC considers the corrective actions are adequate to address this unsafe condition."

(Image Courtesy - Reuters)

In the airworthiness directive, the CAAC said Boeing had addressed the design and the "unsafe conditions" of the planes. The aviation authority offered instructions to airlines on revisions needed -- mainly to safety protocols -- before the aircraft returns to service.

Chinese pilots will need to complete new training before commercial flights can begin, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on its website. It said Boeing Co. is required to install additional software and components.

The directive means there are now no regulatory obstacles for the return of Boeing 737 MAX in China, although it was not clear when flights will immediately resume.

Air China Boeing 737 Max (Image Courtesy - Flight Global)

"CAAC's decision is an important milestone toward safely returning the 737 MAX to service in China," Boeing in China said in a statement to AFP.

"Boeing continues to work with regulators and our customers to return the airplane to service worldwide," it said.

China is the last key travel market to bring the planes back into use after the United States and Europe allowed the model to return to the skies in 2020.

At the time of the grounding, a dozen Chinese carriers had the planes in their fleets -- about a quarter of all such jets in operation worldwide, according to data from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission that oversees big state-run carriers.

Boeing, headquartered in Chicago, was required to redesign the system during a process overseen by an unusually broad array of regulators from the United States, Europe China and the Middle East.

China has the largest 737 Max fleet after the United States, with 97 aircraft operated by 13 carriers before the suspension, according to state media.

China is especially important to Boeing and its European rival, Airbus Industrie because they are counting on its expanding travel market to propel sales growth. North American and European demands are forecast to be flat in the coming decades.

More than 180 countries have now lifted bans on the Max but Indonesia, where the first of the two crashes took place, and Russia has still not signed off.

India’s air safety regulator DGCA allowed Boeing 737 Max to fly again in August this year ending its nearly two-and-a-half-years of regulatory grounding in a key travel market for Boeing.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa Air has ordered 72 ‘737 Max’ aircraft from US-based aerospace company Boeing to launch service in India.

SpiceJet has also commenced its operations on Boeing 737 Max aircraft by flying India's Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia to win back confidence and to instil the faith of travellers on the aircraft that had a ban on it lifted recently.

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Omicron could result in the resumption of extensive travel restrictions - IATA

Radhika Bansal

03 Dec 2021

The sudden emergence of Covid-19's Omicron variant may force countries to re-impose extensive travel restrictions, said International Air Transport Association.

According to IATA, the sudden imposition of strict new travel requirements as a result of Omicron has significantly increased uncertainty.

"Meaning any strong rise in global RPKs is unlikely in the next 2-3 months," it said in its Air Passenger Market Analysis for October 2021. Air passenger volume is measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs.

As per the IATA, it is too early to know the impact the variant will have on new cases, and it is not yet adequately captured in bookings data.

"First of all, new Covid-19 infections are again increasing globally as of late November, driven by a strong outbreak in Europe and the start of a new wave in North America. New cases were falling in most other regions, however, and indeed, travel restrictions were eased in many regions, including in Asia-Pacific countries which had been strict so far, and on the crucial North Atlantic market. That being said, the emergence of the Omicron variant in late November may result in countries re-imposing more extensive travel restrictions.But it strongly increases uncertainty and the possibility that the air travel recovery reverses for a period starting late November. Bookings made for travel in November show the upward trend in international RPKs is likely to continue during that month. However, this is unlikely to extend to December. In addition, domestic RPKs may once more deteriorate in November, in parts due to outbreaks and new restrictions in Russia and China."International Air Transport Association (IATA)

The Omicron variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November 2021. On 26 November 2021, the WHO designated it as a variant of concern and named it after omicron, the fifteenth letter in the Greek alphabet.

The variant has an unusually large number of mutations, several of which are novel, and several of which affect the spike protein targeted by most vaccines at the time of discovering Omicron. This level of variation has led to concerns regarding transmissibility, immune system evasion, and vaccine resistance. As a result, the variant was quickly designated as being "of concern", and travel restrictions were introduced by several countries on African nations in an attempt to slow its international spread.

(With Inputs from IANS)

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Facial Recognition Technology at 4 airports by March 2022

Radhika Bansal

03 Dec 2021

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) has not yet been introduced at any of the airports in India, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation General VK Singh (retd) said in Lok Sabha on December 2.

The question was asked by MPs Feroze Varun Gandhi and Ram Shankar Katheria.

Mr Singh said FRT has not yet been introduced at any of the airports in India. However, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on a project of FRT-based Biometric Boarding System as part of the first phase of Digi Yatra Implementation at four airports - Varanasi, Pune, Kolkata, and Vijayawada.

He added that the proposed Digi Yatra Central Eco-system is planned to go live in March 2022. It is to be scaled up in a phased manner for adoption across various airports of the country.

On the safeguards taken by the government to prevent the leakage of passenger data, he said that as per the Digi Yatra policy, registering for the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem is optional for passengers. For availing of the Digi Yatra services, passengers will need to send the travel details (Pax details, PNR and Facial Biometrics) through an app to the Biometric Boarding System of the respective departing airport.

If for a particular journey, the passenger does not want to avail the Digi Yatra services then they have an option to not send the data and use the existing manual process at airports, he informed.

"The Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem envisages assessments (by independent teams to assess the level of security and system resilience to protect PII) and periodic audits by governing or regulatory bodies twice every year. Facial recognition is as per Industry ISO standards with best in class National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) listed algorithms complying to Data Privacy and Data protection requirement as laid down by the government.Data shared by the passengers will be used for the purpose defined and would not be shared with any other external stakeholders, the minister said. Data shared by passengers will be retained during their transit at the airport and will not be retained for more than 24 hours after the departure of the flight."General V.K. Singh (retd), Minister of State, Ministry of Civil Aviation

Facial recognition is a type of image identification technology. These technologies rely on many of the processes and techniques associated with artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, applications tend to use machine learning to classify subjects at speed and scale.

This technology is widely in use to unlock smartphones, tablets and other such devices. It is also used by some countries to verify someone’s identity at border control. Provided the core human rights protections are followed, one-to-one facial identification has a relatively low-risk profile with its current usage.

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