A day after the aviation regulator DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India in connection with Shankar Mishra’s case, where the first-class flier on New York to New Delhi flight, had allegedly “urinated” on a passenger, a report now suggests that the airline in fact knew about the fiasco hours after the incident, contrary to the claims made by the company.
According to the Hindustan Times, Air India’s senior management, including its chairman and managing director Campbell Wilson, were aware of the incident on Flight AI-102 on November 26. The report details e-mails that the publication accessed to verify the claims.
Air India’s top brass has maintained that that they were not immediately informed of the incident on November 26. The HT report however suggests that the first communication about the incident was made a little over two hours after the plane had landed in Delhi.
According to HT, one of the earliest messages was sent at 3.46pm after the flight had landed at 1pm. The message was also acknowledged by the recipient – Sandeep Verma, head of IFSD, who had reportedly said – “Ok, noted.”
Apart from communication from the staff, Air India managing director Campbell Wilson himself reportedly received an e-mail from the woman passenger’s son-in-law the very same evening, reports HT adding that Wilson had forwarded this e-mail to the head of customer care, asking that it be attended to.
After reports of the incident hit the news, the airline had claimed that there was a delay in reporting the matter to the DGCA because the crew had not reported it to the airline on time, but the e-mails accessed by HT confirm that this was not the case.
A “financial penalty of Rs 30,00,000 has been imposed on Air India for violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR),” the regulator announced on Friday adding that the licence of pilot-in-command of the flight was suspended for a period of three months for failing to discharge his duties as per Rule 141 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and applicable DGCA civil aviation requirements.
A financial penalty of Rs 3 lakh has also been imposed on the director-in-flight services of Air India for failing to discharge her duties.
Reacting to the aviation regulator’s notice, Air India spokesperson said, “We are studying the Director General of Civil Aviation’s order. We respectfully acknowledge the gaps in our reporting and are taking relevant steps to ensure that the same are addressed. We are also strengthening our crews’ awareness of and compliance with policies on the handling of incidents involving unruly passengers. Air India is committed to stand by the safety and well-being of our passengers.”
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