Aviation in the Netherlands wants to take tougher action against disruptive passengers. KLM, Transavia, TUI and Corendon have agreed on this with the authorities involved.
The four companies signed a statement with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Schiphol, the military police and the Public Prosecution Service on Thursday, during a meeting in hangar 10 at Schiphol-Oost. “Flight gases are not accepted,” said Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management, VVD) during the meeting. “That is our shared message.”
The airlines want to be able to exchange data about passengers who misbehave on board. Privacy legislation currently prevents the sharing of so-called blacklists. Companies are not allowed to simply share (criminal) information from consumers. Only KLM and Transavia now exchange data; This is allowed because they are part of one concern, Air France-KLM. The companies do not want to say how many passengers are on their blacklist.
Fraudulent customers
The ministry is investigating ways in which sharing passenger data is possible within the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To this end, Minister Harbers is working together with the Ministry of Justice and Security. The outcome of the investigation is not expected until the spring. In other sectors, companies already share data from misbehaving or fraudulent customers. Banks and insurers have an ‘external referral register’ with all kinds of guarantees.
The number of incidents involving passengers misbehaving on board is increasing, the four companies said. Transavia talks about dozens of incidents per month, KLM about a doubling of the number of incidents compared to 2019.
Supervisory Authority for the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) now receives more than a hundred reports per month. That is slightly more than in 2019, before the pandemic. During corona times, the number of reports was higher, even though much less was flown at the time. In 2020 and 2021, passengers often clashed with cabin crew because, for example, they did not want to wear a face mask on board.
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An incident may occur when a passenger – sometimes under the influence of drink or drugs – does not listen to instructions from the cabin crew. Remember: fastening your seat belt, remaining seated during take-off and landing, not smoking in the toilet.
Sometimes incidents are a lot more serious. During the meeting at Schiphol, a Transavia captain talked about a recent fight between two groups of young travelers on a flight from Italy to Amsterdam. The situation went off the rails just before landing. After taxiing, the military police were ready to arrest the fighting passengers. In March, a KLM flight to Calgary, Canada, had to return to Schiphol after two hours due to an aggressive passenger.
An incident is not yet a report or declaration. Cabin crew sometimes choose not to report a disturbance. Reporting or reporting often takes three or four hours, a KLM flight attendant said during the meeting. The military police are calling on cabin crew to report crimes more often.
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