Tata Group chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Sunday conceded that Air India’s response to a drunken flier’s alleged act of urinating on a woman co-passenger on an international flight on November 26 should have been “much swifter”.
In a statement that came days after aviation regulator DGCA pulled up the Tata Group-owned full-service carrier, Chandrasekaran said “we fell short of addressing this situation the way we should have”. Accused Shankar Mishra, believed to have been drunk when he allegedly urinated on a woman in her 70s in the business class of Air India’s New York-New Delhi flight, was arrested by Delhi police from Bangalore on Saturday.
The in-flight incident had come to light reportedly after the woman wrote to Chandrasekaran. “The incident... has been a matter of personal anguish to me and my colleagues at Air India. Air India’s response should have been much swifter. We fell short of addressing this situation the way it should have been,” Chandrasekaran said.
“The Tata Group and Air India stand by the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew with full conviction. We will review and repair every process to prevent or address any incidents of such unruly nature.”
The DGCA has said Air India’s conduct in handling the incident, which it had failed to report to the regulator, had been “unprofessional”. It has issued showcause notices to the airline, its director of inflight services, and the crew that operated the flight.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson had on Saturday apologised for the incident and said four cabin crew members and a pilot had been de-rostered, and the airline was reviewing its “policy on service of alcohol in flight”.
The airline had on Wednesday said it had imposed a 30-day flying ban on Mishra and set up an internal panel to probe whether there were lapses on the part of the crew in addressing the situation. After the DGCA rap, Wilson had in an internal communication told the airline’s staff to report any improper behaviour on aircraft to authorities at the earliest even if the matter appeared to have been settled.
