Tata Group-owned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson apologised for a flyer urinating on a fellow female passenger on a flight from New York in November, and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the airline is reviewing policy of serving alcohol on flights.
Facing backlash for the handling of the incident, Wilson in a statement said the airline could have handled the issue better and promised a robust reporting system of unruly behaviour and a system of reporting such incidents.
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, he said.
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. With questions being raised about the airline not immediately reporting the unruly passenger to law enforcement authorities, he advised staff to report all incidents irrespective of a settlement being reached.
In the instance of the incident onboard AI-102 operating between New York and Delhi on November 26, 2022, four cabin crew and one pilot have been issued show cause notices and de-rostered pending investigation, he said, adding internal investigations into whether there were lapses by other staff are ongoing.
The airline is investigating aspects including the service of alcohol on flight, incident handling, complaint registration on board and grievance handling.
In addition to this state-of-the-art software, the airline is also in the process of deploying iPads to Pilots and Senior Cabin Crew. 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. Air India, he said, also continues to provide support to the affected passengers and ensure their well-being.
Also, Air India convened four meetings between senior Airline staff, the victim and her family on December 20, 21, 26 and 30 to discuss actions being taken and the progress thereof.
When the victim’s family requested that Air India lodge a police report during the meeting on December 26, it did so on December 28, 2022, he said.