MUMBAI: While the debate rages on whether the 12 Indian detained by the Dutch police on Wednesday were victims of racial profiling, flight attendants feel Indian passengers habitually ignore instructions of the cabin crew while on board.

An Indian Airlines attendant who flies on the Kolkata-Bangkok sector says, "These so-called educated passengers do not switch off their cell phones when they are asked to do so, and still make calls when the plane is ready for take off or is landing. Before the plane halts, they jump up from their seats and open the baggage. They ignore the 'seat belt on' signs. It's really tiring to attend to such passengers."

Referring to the North West Airlines flight in which the Indian passengers apparently refused to follow instructions of the crew, the attendant said, "If we were to follow such strict rules in India, then every flight would have to make emergency landing."

Unlike the NorthWest Airlines crew, emergency landings are frowned upon in India. The duty of the cabin crew to keep an eagle eye on passenger's behaviour is almost taken for granted.

Explaining the predicament, an Airhostess says, "Even if we are forced to enforce the rules because of such passengers, we are not supposed to leave our seats until we are instructed by the captain.”

According to cabin crews, first-time flyers and couriers are the ones who are mostly to blame. “As these passengers fly frequently, they are often upgraded to the better section under the frequent-flyer programme. They spend the duration of the flight moving up and down the plane to be with colleagues in the Economy Class which causes a lot of confusion inside the aircraft,” feels one of the cabin crews.

Crew members also complain about passengers behaving badly after a couple of drinks on sectors like Bangkok, which have a free-bar service.

An NRI who travelled by North West from Amsterdam to Mumbai earlier this year, said though he thought the behaviour of the flight crew in this week's incident "smacked of racial discrimination", Indian passengers often behaved inappropriately.

He recalled an earlier flight in which on landing at the Mumbai airport, even before the 'seat belt on' sign was put up, most Indian passengers had unbuckled their belts and sprung from their seats. "Their cell phones had begun to ring when they were supposed to keep them switched off. Only after the airhostess sternly told them that no one would be allowed to get down did they obey her instructions."

In stark contrast, an airhostess who flies in the international sector, says, “Foreigners and NRIs are totally different in international airways. They even ask for permission to listen to music on their personal electronic devices. In fact, we might be losing some good travellers. We have come across passengers who have appreciated our services but have told us they would never to fly our airline because of unruly co-passengers who are a nuisance."

Also, due to intense competition, airlines often have to put up with badly behaved passengers. An airline pilot can offload an unruly passenger, but he refrains from doing so because a rival pilot may not take similar action.

However, say flight attendants, if all airlines begin to take strict action against disobedient passengers, it would go a long way in creating better flying conditions. They suggest the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation should consider such a proposal.

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