New Delhi: Air India have been very late to react, but have ultimately woken up.
Six weeks after a drunk Business class passenger urinated on a 70-year-old woman on board a New York to Delhi plane, the airline has de-rostered four cabin crew members and the pilot of that AI-102 flight.
Air India CEO Cambell Wilson stated that four crew members and one pilot on the flight in which the incident occurred on November 26, 2022, have been issued showcause notices and de-rostered by the Tata Group airline, pending investigation.
The utterly repulsive incident, which came to light earlier this week, not surprisingly triggered massive media and public outcry, demanding strictest punishment for the culprit.
Shankar Mishra, the accused, was arrested from Bengaluru on Friday, and fired by his employers Wells Fargo soon after the incident was reported.
“Air India is deeply concerned about the in-flight instances where customers have suffered due to the condemnable acts of their co-passengers on our aircraft. We regret and are pained about these experiences,” said Wilson.
Admitting that the airline didn’t handle the matter properly, Wilson added: “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 crew did not report the incident to the authorities as the accused apparently reached a settlement with the victim, who later informed the police.
However, Air India initially let off the passenger with a 1-month ban.
In view of rising cases of inebriated and unruly passengers disturbing fellow-travellers and crew members, Air India will review some of its policies, especially with respect to serving of alcohol on flights, incident handling, complaint registration and grievance handling.
