No plan for pre-flight safety announcements in regional languages: Govt

The government today said there is no proposal at present to make announcements of pre-flight safety instructions in regional languages.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha that on-board announcements of pre-flight safety instructions for passengers about seat belts, emergency exits, oxygen masks and life vests are normally made in Hindi and English on all flights.
These are consistent with printed language on all documents for passengers' safety information, he added.
To a query on whether the government is taking any measures to ensure that all such announcements are made in regional languages, the minister said, "no such measures are being proposed by this ministry at present".

On whether the government is aware that thousands of flyers are facing difficulty in understanding the announcements as they do not understand either Hindi or English, Sinha said no such information is available with the civil aviation ministry.
"However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had received two generic grievances in 2015 and 2016 whereby the complainant had stressed the usage of regional language during the use of cabin safety announcements," he said in a written reply.