Recognizing Air India could have dealt with the November 26 incident better sooner, its CEO Campbell Wilson on Saturday expressed regret for the situation, adding the airline had removed one pilot and four cabin crew members from the roster.
“Internal investigations into whether other employees have acted at fault are ongoing, including serving alcohol on board, handling incidents, registering complaints on board and handling complaints. As a responsible airline brand, we have taken the following steps to significantly strengthen and improve our handling of such incidents going forward,” Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson was referring to the incident aboard AI 102, which was operating between New York and New York Delhi – where a passenger relieved himself on a female passenger who was under the influence of alcohol.
The defendant – Shankar Mishra – was arrested by Delhi police on Saturday. Air India made a complaint to the police on December 28 – over a month after the incident – and the police made a complaint FIR on January 4th.
Wilson clarified that the airline continues to support affected passengers and ensure their well-being.
He stressed that the airline received the complaint on November 27 and began correspondence with the affected passenger’s family on November 30.
A ticket refund was initiated on December 2 “upon receipt of funds confirmed by the victim’s family on December 16.”
The airline on December 10 appointed the DGCA-mandated “Internal Committee” tasked with evaluating incidents, which includes a retired judge, a representative from a passenger association and a representative from another Indian commercial airline Committee on December 20, and on the same day, a 30-day temporary travel ban was imposed on Mishra, the CEO said in the statement.
The statement added that the airline “convened four meetings between senior airline officials, the victim and her family on December 20, December 21, December 26 and December 30, 2022 to review the measures taken and their progress discuss”.
“When the victim’s family asked Air India to file a police report during the December 26 meeting, they did so on December 28, 2022,” the statement said.
Wilson also said the airline is launching a comprehensive training program to increase crew awareness of and compliance with the guidelines for handling incidents and unruly passengers, and to better equip crews to empathetically assist those affected.
The program is said to include a review of airlines’ in-flight alcohol serving policies and a review of the frequency of meetings of the DGCA-mandated “Internal Committee” tasked with evaluating incidents so that cases can be assessed and decisions made in a timely manner .
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