‘Matter of personal anguish’: Tata Sons reacts to urination incident onboard Air India flight

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said Air India’s response should have been much swifter. His statement comes a day after Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline could have handled the incident better.

Shankar Mishra was arrested in Bengaluru for peeing on a woman on an Air India flight. (File photo)

By Pankaj Upadhyay: Responding to the urinating incident onboard Air India’s New York to Delhi flight, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said it had been a matter of personal anguish to him and his colleagues at the airline.

The incident took place on November 26 on Air India flight AI 102 flying from New York to Delhi. A drunk Mishra urinated on a female passenger, a senior citizen in her seventies, when the cabin lights were turned off.

The woman wrote to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekharan expressing her disappointment by stating that the cabin crew was highly insensitive towards the situation.

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In a statement, Chandrasekaran acknowledged the airline’s response should have been much swifter in the matter. He stated, “The incident on Air India flight AI102 on November 26th, 2022, 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 statement further read, “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.”

Shankar Mishra, the man who was accused of peeing on a woman co-passenger onboard an Air India flight, has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. He was earlier arrested by Delhi Police from Bengaluru after authorities traced his phone.

Air India also imposed a 30-day travel ban on Mishra and an internal probe has been initiated to investigate if there were lapses in handling the situation by the crew.

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WE COULD’VE DONE BETTER: AIR INDIA

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of Air India, Campbell Wilson, issued a statement in the aftermath of the peeing incidents, acknowledging that the matter could have been handled better.

“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,” said Campbell Wilson.

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