Air India has issued show cause notices and de-rostered one pilot as well as four cabin crew after a man allegedly urinated on a female passenger on a flight from New York to Delhi in November, the airline’s chief executive officer said on Saturday.
A similar incident also occurred in December on a flight from Paris to Delhi.
“Air India acknowledges that it could have handled these matters better, both in the air and on the ground and is committed to taking action,” the airline’s CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson said in a statement on Saturday.
He added that the airline “regrets and is pained about” these experiences. “Internal investigations into whether there were lapses by other staff are ongoing on aspects including the service of alcohol on flight, incident handling, complaint registration on board, and grievance handling,” the statement said.
According to the first information report filed by the Delhi Police, the man on the New York to Delhi flight walked to the woman’s seat in the business class section in a drunken state, unzipped his pants and urinated on her. The FIR stated that after the incident, Air India crew brought the accused person, identified as Shankar Mishra, to the woman’s seat and forced her to negotiate with him.
The woman in a letter to Tata Group Chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran accused the crew of being “deeply unprofessional” while dealing with a “very traumatic situation”.
In his statement on Saturday, Wilson said Air India is reviewing its policy of serving alcohol in flight.
“The airline is also in the process of deploying iPads to pilots and senior cabin crew,” the statement said. “When used together, crew will be able to enter voyage and incident reports electronically, which will then be rapidly and automatically routed to relevant parties including, as required, the regulator.”
In an internal communication, Wilson has told the airline staff to report any improper behaviour on aircraft to the authorities at the earliest even if the matter seems to have been settled, PTI reported. “The repulsion felt by the affected passenger is totally understandable and we share her distress,” he added.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!