Air India CEO Campbell Wilson today admitted that the airlines could have reacted better to the incident of a drunk flyer urinating on an elderly passenger in the business class of a New York-Delhi Air India flight on November 26.
"There are things that we didn't do well. We have learnt lessons," Air India CEO told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
He also spoke in length about how airline crew often suffer physical and verbal abuse on duty.
"Not a day goes by without us receiving reports about passenger behaviour. There is a degradation of passenger behaviour onboard aircraft and a standard of decorum is required," he said.
Mr Wilson also suggested a change in India's airline laws in order to allow airlines the discretion to deny someone passage, especially when they have misbehaved with fellow passengers or crew.
"In India, there is a very complicated process to suspend people from traveling, which is quite unusual compared to most of the world. And I think perhaps there should be a little bit more discretion left to the airline to unilaterally take decisions to deny someone carriage when they have, particularly when they've threatened crew when they've threatened other passengers," he told NDTV.
On a New York-Delhi Air India flight on November 26, Shankar Mishra allegedly unzipped his pants and urinated on an elderly woman in business class. He later begged the woman not to report him to the police, saying it would impact his wife and child.
Air India filed a police complaint weeks after the incident and banned Mishra from flying for 30 days, triggering outrage from social media users who said it was not enough.
Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police on Friday, six weeks after the incident.
Mr Wilson told NDTV that the airline has realised the importance of reporting incidents.
"One of the key things is reporting incidents that happen. Perhaps there was a culture before where things we tried to resolve internally rather than reporting. Perhaps," Mr Wilson said.
Elaborating on the steps that the airlines have taken after the November incident, Mr Wilson said that they have reviewed their alcohol policy and also briefed their staff about how to deal with drunk passengers.
