Passenger travelling on flights without wearing face mask properly can be offloaded by cabin crew as per recent guidelines issued by Delhi High Court to DGCA and all airlines. The suo moto cognizance was take after Justice C. Hari Shankar who was travelling from Delhi to Kolkata in a flight noticed that many passengers had worn the masks below their chin and were exhibiting a stubborn reluctance to wear their masks properly.

Judge Hari Shankar was on an Air India flight from Kolkata to New Delhi on March 5 where he saw the behaviour of the passengers and issued a suo moto cognizance based on his observations. Justice Shankar made clear that masks should be worn as directed by governmental instructions, covering the nose and mouth, and not worn merely covering the mouth or below the chin.

”On the cabin crew being questioned in this regard, they stated that they had directed all the passengers to wear masks, but were helpless in case they did not comply,” the court noted. “In the event of any passenger being unwilling to follow this protocol prior to the flight taking off, the passenger should be offloaded without delay.”

If a passenger, despite being reminded more than once in flight, refuses to follow this protocol, the Court directed that action should be taken against the passenger, including placing the passenger on a “no-fly” regimen, either permanently or for a stipulated, sufficiently long, period.