Jolted Air India grounds pilot, cabin crew on flight in which Mumbai man urinated on woman

Air India today grounded and issued show cause notices to four cabin crew members, and one of the two pilots, on the airline’s controversial New York-Delhi Air India flight in which a man from Mumbai had urinated on a woman in business class.

“Internal investigations 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,” the statement by Campbell Wilson, CEO and Managing Director of Air India, said.

The airline said it “regrets and is pained about” these experiences, and added that it acknowledges that it could have handled the situation better, “both in the air and on the ground”.

The airline said it will also review the airline policy on service of alcohol in flight.

To check such incidents in the future a “comprehensive education program” has been started 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 statement added.

Air India said after receiving the complaint on November 27 it acknowledged receipt and started speaking with the affected passenger’s family on November 30. A refund of the ticket was also initiated on December 2, with receipt of funds acknowledged by the victim’s family on December 16,” the statement added.

Air India has come in for scathing criticism over the horrifying incident as a complaint was made to the police only after the woman’s letter to the group chairman of Air India, N Chandrasekaran, surfaced.

The complainant has stated that she told the crew she did not want to see Mishra’s face and was “stunned when the offender was brought before her and “started crying and profusely apologising.” according to her complaint, which is part of the FIR (First Information

The 70-year-old woman has also accused the crew of being unprofessional and failing to be proactive in managing a “very sensitive and traumatic situation”.

Also read: Mumbai man who urinated on woman in Air India plane arrested from Bengaluru