Air India de-rosters 1 pilot, 4 crew, CEO 'regrets' urination onboard incident
The CEO said initial probe 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
After Air India passenger Shankar Mishra was arrested in Bengaluru for urinating at his co-passenger on a flight from New York to Delhi, the air carrier said it had issued show cause notice and de-rostered a pilot and four cabin crew members pending investigation.
In a statement issued after Mishra's arrest by the Delhi Police, Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson listed steps taken by the management over the November 26 incident which has triggered massive outrage.
The CEO said initial probe 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.
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The Air India CEO said steps to strengthen and improve how such incidents could be handled better in future have been initiated. The steps include commencing a comprehensive education programme to strengthen crews' awareness of and compliance with policies on the handling of incidents and unruly passengers, and to better equip crew to empathetically assist those affected.
The airline said it will review policy on service of alcohol in flight, and also improve the 'robustness of its incident reporting process. Air India will be providing iPads to pilots and senior cabin crew members which will help them to enter voyage and incident reports electronically.
Wilson said Air India began engaging with the victim's family on November 30 on receiving the complaint. It also commenced a refund of the ticket on December 2 with receipts acknowledged by the victim's family on December 16.
Air India said it 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 10 December. The file was passed to the Committee on 20 December and a 30-day interim travel ban imposed on the same date.
The CEO said 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. "When the victim's family requested that Air India lodge a police report during the meeting on 26 December, it did so on 28 December 2022", he said.
