Air India 'peeing' incident: 1 pilot issued show cause notices, says CEO Campbell Wilson

Campbell Wilson (Illustration - Suneesh Kalarickal)

Tata Group-owned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on January 7 apologised for a flyer urinating on a fellow female passenger on a flight from New York in November, and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the airline is reviewing policy of serving alcohol on flights.

"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. We regret and are pained about these experiences. 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," Wilson said in an official statement.

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"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. 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 CEO said.

The airline is investigating aspects including the service of alcohol on flight.

The airline has initiated the various steps with a view to materially strengthen and improve how such incidents would be addressed in future, the CEO said in the statement, adding that they are investigating aspects including the service of alcohol on flight. Also, it is reviewing the meeting frequency of the DGCA-prescribed 'Internal Committee', tasked with assessing incidents, so that cases are assessed and decisions reached in a more timely manner.

Also Read: Wells Fargo sacks India VP Shankar Mishra for urinating on Air India co-passenger

"To improve the robustness of its legacy incident reporting processes, which are presently paper-based and manual, Air India signed a Letter of Intent in December 2022 to acquire a license for the market-leading provider of incident management software, Coruson," he said.

"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, 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." Air India also continues to provide support to the affected passengers and ensure their well-being, he added.

The accused, Shankar Mishra, has been arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru and a case has been registered against him.

After news of Mishra urinating on a woman co-passenger on board an Air India flight on November 26, 2022, was reported, the Delhi Police on January 5 wrote to the concerned authorities seeking a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Shankar Mishra.

Further, he has been sacked by American financial services company Wells Fargo's India unit where he was serving as the Vice-President. “This individual has been terminated from Wells Fargo. We are cooperating with law enforcement and ask that any additional inquiries be directed to them,” the company said in a statement released on January 6.