Dutch pilots call for unruly passenger blacklist, better alcohol controls at Schiphol

Dutch pilots unions are calling for tighter controls on the sale of alcohol at Schiphol airport and a blacklist of passengers who misbehave, reports television programme Brandpunt on Tuesday.

The unions were reacting to new transport ministry figures which show there were 985 reports of ‘unruly passengers’ last year, a rise of 262 on the year before. Alcohol played a role in most of the incidents.

‘We are calling on MPs, the transport ministry, our European representatives and the European commission to take this situation seriously,’ Joost van Doesburg of pilots union VNV said.

In 14 cases, the flight was affected and in three the plane either diverted or returned to the Netherlands because of the seriousness of the incident.

Airlines already operate their own black lists but do not share with other carriers because of privacy regulations, Zakaria Boufangacha, of trade union FNV Cabine told the programme.

Brandpunt will report on the problems on Tuesday night.