Air India on Saturday informed that four cabin crew and one pilot have been issued show cause and de-rostered till pending investigation in view of the incident where a man allegedly urinated on a senior citizen on a New York and Delhi flight on November 26.
"In the instance of the incident onboard AI102 operating between New York and Delhi on 26 November 2022: Four cabin crew and one pilot have been issued show cause notices and de-rostered pending investigation," said a statement by Air India.
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, said Air India's statement.
"We regret and are pained about these experiences, said a statement from Campbell Wilson," said the CEO and Managing Director of Air India in the statement.
"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," said the statement.
Internal investigations into whether there were lapses by other staff are ongoing on aspects including the service of alcohol on the flight, incident handling, complaint registration on board and grievance handling.
The airline said it is commencing a comprehensive education program to strengthen crews' awareness of and compliance with policies on handling incidents and unruly passengers, and better equip crew to assist those affected empathetically.It will review the meeting frequency of the DGCA-prescribed "Internal Committee", tasked with assessing incidents so that cases are evaluated and decisions reached in a more timely manner.
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, the 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.
"Upon receipt of the complaint on November 27, Air India acknowledged receipt and commenced engaging in correspondence with the affected passenger's family on 30 November 30; commenced a refund of the ticket on December 2, with receipt of funds acknowledged by the victim's family on December 16; initiated the DGCA-prescribed "Internal Committee", tasked with assessing incidents and which comprises a retired judge, a representative from a passengers' association, and a representative from another Indian commercial airline, on December 10," as per the statement.
( With inputs from ANI )
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