DGCA strictly warns airlines against booking passengers beyond serviceable seats

In the latest development, the DGCA reprimanded airlines for booking unserviceable seats and stated it not only resulted in inconvenience to passengers but also amounted to safety violations. Recently, many cases were reported wherein passengers having a confirmed ticket were denied boarding, and this was because of the practice of overbooking adopted by the airline companies in order to book the most tickets possible. 

In a communication to all the airlines, the aviation watchdog said it has come to the notice of the DGCA that many scheduled carriers are overbooking tickets on their flights, both on the domestic and international routes. DGCA underlined this not only causes great discomfort to the travellers but also amounts to security ramifications.

'Overbooking passengers results in security concerns'

"It may please be noted that as per Sub Rule (2) of Rule 53 of The Aircraft Rule 1937, all materials including aircraft seat shall conform to approved design specifications," DGCA said. It further added the installation of any part failing to meet the design specifications can degrade the requirements of air-worthiness.

The DGCA official informed about the inspections done by their teams of the cabin interiors of the aircrafts and the report explaining the issues and shortcoming have been communicated to them. 

"It is hereby advised to ensure that the airline shall not book passengers beyond the serviceable seats meeting the approved design specification available in the aircraft, released for scheduled services. Any non-compliance in this regard shall be viewed seriously," said DGCA. 

DGCA warns of penalties for overbooking

The aviation regulator earlier in May warned aviation companies to follow the rules regarding passenger boarding or face penalties, after receiving multiple complaints of overbooking. The DGCA in a statement said, "It has come to the notice of this office that various airlines are denying boarding to passengers holding confirmed tickets on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding within the time specified by the airline. This practice is extremely unfair to the passengers and brings a bad name to the aviation industry."

The aviation companies overbook to make sure most of the seats are sold just before the flight takes off. The airline has to face losses due to cancellations and the passengers not turning up, so they started overbooking the flights to make up for the loss. However, if all the passengers do arrive, some have to be turned down resulting in denying boarding to passengers having a valid ticket and having arrived on time.