DGCA issues guidelines to regulate onboard merchandise sales

Domestic flyers will have to wait for some time before they can buy gifts items like aircraft models, pens or watches while flying to their destination. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has for "safety reasons" asked domestic airlines to stop onboard merchandise sales with immediate effect. This order does not cover food and non-alcoholic drinks and their sale will continue as usual. A common practice abroad, in India, only a few airlines like IndiGo and GoAir offer onboard merchandise sales. SpiceJet and JetLite had this practice for a while earlier. A senior DGCA official said airlines were found to be using cabin crew for the onboard sale and claimed this was eating into their other more important safety-related duties on the anyway short-flying duration domestic flights.

"DGCA has not granted approval to any (domestic) airline to sell merchandise on domestic sectors, nor are such operations documented in operations manual of the airlines. It is felt that such actions of airlines are not conducive to safety of operations as being carried out now. Physical sale of merchandise goods on board in domestic sectors shall be stopped henceforth," the letter sent by joint DG A K Chopra to airlines says, while adding that airline must take prior permission for onboard sales on domestic flights. Low cost carriers are up in arms against this order. They point out that while safety duties of cabin crew is common to both LCCs and full service carriers, their crew just sells food, drinks and merchandise. "On the other hand, cabin crew of full service carriers will first give a cold or hot towel and soft drinks to passengers immediately on boarding. After takeoff too some snacks may be given before the main course. Some domestic airlines even have the crew brew fresh coffee on aircraft. So it's wrong to say merchandise sale eats into the cabin crew's time for safety duties," said a top official of an LCC.

DGCA chief Nasim Zaidi has called a meeting with airlines on this issue on Friday. "Onboard sale has not been banned. We just want the correct procedures to be in place for this. A meeting has been called on Friday and the safety rules for this will be in place very soon. Then domestic airlines can have onboard merchandise sale on their flights," Zaidi said. Clearly, LCCs see this move as targeting them while favouring full service airlines. However, Zaidi, who has ushered in huge amount of reform in DGCA, assured that the rules would be in place shortly.