As explained in Aeroflot's press service, the list of undesirable persons began to be compiled last year, and 11 passengers have been added to it since then. All of them distinguished themselves by inappropriate behavior during flights to various foreign destinations. In this regard, the troublemakers were deprived of the right to return home with Aeroflot (although they had return tickets), and in the future they are not allowed to purchase tickets from this company. The punishment imposed has no expiration date.
As Vremya Novostei reports, Aeroflot has a commission for ensuring safety on board, which concluded that the number of cases endangering passengers as a result of the actions of other passengers on Aeroflot aircraft is growing year by year. Moreover, customers are several times more likely to cause a disturbance when returning home from abroad than on flights to foreign airports. Experts explain this by the fact that in this country air hooliganism is traditionally considered a minor offense, while in other states it can become grounds for criminal prosecution. The creation of a blacklist of undesirable persons is intended to compensate for the excessive leniency of the law in this matter.
The educational effect could increase many times over if the contents of the document become known to other airlines. Aeroflot's press service said that if any foreign carrier asks to be informed of whom the Russian airline considers undesirable passengers, that request will most likely be granted. In that case, a person who once sullied himself by bad behavior on an Aeroflot aircraft may unexpectedly find himself deprived of the right to board a completely different airline in another country.
Transaero also proposed to other airlines that a single blacklist be created for passengers who cause disturbances on board airliners. According to the initiators' plan, a person who violates order on an airplane of one airline (often after excessively indulging in alcohol) should no longer have tickets sold to him by any carrier. Transaero itself has already introduced a blacklist system. The company assures that this initiative has been approved by the State Civil Aviation Service.
European and North American airlines in recent years have taken a very tough approach to monitoring passenger behavior in the air. Cabin crews (flight attendants) are equipped with serious tools, including handcuffs and belts for securing offenders to their seats.
Deprivation of the right to fly is also applied very decisively and is not subject to appeal. A participant in the events told the newspaper Vremya Novostei how, in the bar of Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, Air France employees seized already issued boarding passes from two Russians. These gentlemen had once abused alcohol on another Air France flight and had given a written commitment not to drink on this airline's flights again.
Although the practice of compiling blacklists is common among the world's largest airlines, this measure alone will not solve the problem: there will always be companies willing to sell a ticket to a troublemaker. To solve the problem, a person who committed an offense must pay not a single minimum wage, as is currently the case, but fines commensurate with the cost of the ticket.