Health data disclosure may become mandatory

Soon, it may become mandatory for a flight passenger to disclose his or her medical history to book a plane ticket. In fact, a passenger may also be required to be certified 'fit to fly' by a doctor if he or she had any adverse medical history. A sharp rise in the number of passenger deaths on flights has alarmed the civil aviation industry in India, so much so that the Federation of Indian Airlines is now asking the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for enforcement of such a measure even as rush to airports becomes bigger and bigger thanks to the low-cost air travel boom. According to Federation of Indian Airlines, in Mumbai alone there were six deaths on air in the past two months. The death of a passenger on an Air-India flight from Delhi to Birmingham last week has again brought the issue to the fore. While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is understood to be considering the issue, it however insists that the airlines cannot implement such a measure arbitrarily. All Airlines need to get prior approval of DGCA before implementing such norms.

The airlines’ apex body is, however, insistent on its demand. "There must be mandatory disclosure of health details," Vijay Mallya, the owner of Kingfisher Airlines, said. An Air-India official said,“airlines will ask passengers to fill a form and declare their ailments before they fly just like insurance companies. If a passenger has a problem, he/she must furnish a medical certificate. Then we will have the right to refuse such passengers." Air-India witnessed three passenger deaths on flight in the last two months. Other people connected with the aviation sector, however, call such a measure "unjustified and impractical". However, people across the industry do agree that such disclosure is a must for passengers suffering from chronic diseases or heart ailments. The passenger who died on the A-I flight last week was also believed to have suffered a heart attack in the air.

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