Tata Sons boss N Chandrasekaran comments on Air India 'pee-gate', 44 days after incident

N Chandrasekaran

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on January 8 responded to the Air India 'peeing' incident, where a man allegedly urinated in an inebriated condition on a woman co-passenger.

The accused Shankar Mishra, who has been sent to judicial custody now, allegedly urinated on the woman, a senior citizen, in an inebriated condition in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year.

In a statement, Chandrasekaran said that Air India's response should have been much swifter. "We fell short of addressing this situation the way it should have been," he added.

The Tata Sons boss' comments come 44 days later after public outrage and promises of action by authorities.

"The incident on Air India flight Al102 on November 26th, 2022, has been a matter of personal anguish to me and my colleagues at Air India," he noted.

Chandrasekaran also said that the Tata group and Air India stand by the safety and well-being of our passengers with full conviction. "We will review and repair every process to prevent or address any incidents of such unruly nature," the statement further read.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court has sent the accused Shankar Mishra to judicial remand for 14 days while rejecting a plea by police for his custody.

Post the judgement, the accused Mishra's lawyer has moved bail plea, which will be heard on January 11.

Mishra, who has been terminated from his job in American financial services company Wells Fargo, was arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru on Friday night. Notably, the Delhi Police has so far recorded the statements of three crew members of Air India today in connection with the case.

Further, regarding the 'urinating' incident, Air India has already issued show cause notice and de-rostered one pilot and four cabin crew as it investigates the 'peeing' incident in of its business class flights, CEO Campbell Wilson had said.

Wilson, in a statement, had added that the airline could have handled the issue better and promised a robust reporting system of unruly behaviour and a system of reporting such incidents.

"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," he said.

Following the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)  issued notices to the officials and crew of the New York-Delhi flight, asking why action should not be taken against them for "dereliction" of duty while handling the November 26 'urination' incident.

The aviation regulator also stated that Air India, at first glance, appeared to have not complied with provisions related to the handling of an unruly passenger onboard.