Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #562

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Air India Slammed For ‘Systemic
Failure’ After Unruly Male Passenger
Flying Business Class Urinated On A
Woman Traveling From New York
By Chloe Taylor
India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said Thursday that Air India had not followed pro- tocol when a dis- orderly male pas- senger on a Nov. 26 flight from New York to Delhi
urinated on an elderly woman who was also traveling onboard. He was traveling in business class, the Hindustan Times reported. Air India—which is owned by Tata Group—said on Wednesday that it had banned the male passenger from its flights for
a month as required by regu- lations, and had reported the inci- dent to the DGCA.
However, DGCA said in its state- ment that the man, who was said to be intoxi- cated when the incident occurred, was not dealt with by Air India staff
in a way that complied with provisions for handling unruly air passengers. “The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure,” DGCA said, as reported by local news outlets in India.
DGCA said it had issued notices to Air India’s director of inflight services as well as the pilots and cabin crew who were working on the flight in question requiring them to explain why no further action should be taken against them for the “dereliction of their regulatory obligations.”
It also accused the Air India staff involved with the incident of being “devoid of empa- thy.” Spokespeople for Air India and DGCA were not immediately avail- able for comment when contacted by Fortune.
On Thursday, Air India reported a second incident during a Dec. 6 flight between Paris and Delhi, news
agency Reuters r
eported, which saw another male passenger urinate on an empty seat and the blanket of a fellow passen- ger. Air India reportedly said the passenger on the Paris flight had been arrest- ed on arrival at Delhi but was released by police after com- ing to an under- standing with the victim.
According to Indian media, the man accused of urinating on a woman on the Nov. 26 flight is wanted for arrest by the New Delhi police.
Under new stan- dards that came into force in India in 2017, unruly passengers are banned from fly- ing for between three months and over two years depending on the severity of their
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine