File image of Natarajan Chandrasekaran. AFP
New Delhi: 44 days after a passenger allegedly urinated on an elderly woman onboard an Air India New York-Delhi flight, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran broke his silence on the incident.
On 8 January 2022, Chandrasekaran said, “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.”
“We fell short of addressing this situation the way it should’ve been,” he said in a statement.
“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 Tata Sons chairman added.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Saturday apologised for the incident and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the airline is reviewing its “policy on service of alcohol in flight”.
Earlier, Wilson, in an internal communication, told the airline staff to report any improper behaviour on aircraft to authorities at the earliest even if the matter appears to have been settled.
Incident happened on 26 November 2022
Wilson wrote the communication to employees after aviation safety regulator DGCA slammed the Tata Group airline, saying that its conduct was “unprofessional” and led to the “systematic failure” on the New York-Delhi flight incident, which it did not report to the DGCA.
On 26 November 2022, a drunk male passenger allegedly flashed and urinated on a 72-year-old woman.
Air India reported the matter to the police only this month after the incident became public. The drunk passenger identified as 34-year-old Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on 7 January 2023.
Mishra, who was working with US multinational firm Wells Fargo in India, was sacked on Friday.
The incident came to light reportedly after the woman wrote a letter to Chandrasekaran recalling her harrowing experience on the flight.
With inputs from agencies
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