'Air India's response should have been much swifter': Tata Sons' N Chandrasekaran on 'pee-gate'

Air India fell short of addressing the urination incident the way it should have and the response should have been much swifter, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Sunday.

"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," he said in an official statement.

He further added, "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."

The incident occurred on November 26 onboard Air India flight AI 102 where an inebriated man exposed himself and urinated on a female passenger (a senior citizen) who was sitting in the business class of a New York-Delhi Air India flight on November 26.  

It was when the passenger wrote to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran that the incident came to light. She complained that AI cabin crew were insensitive to the situation and simply gave her a pair of pyjamas and slippers to change into, and no action was taken against the male passenger.

The accused in the case has been identified as Shankar Mishra. For days, Mishra was on run but he was eventually arrested from Bengaluru by Delhi Police on 6 January. He was produced before the Patiala court, which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days, saying no police custody was required for further investigation. 

Mishra had four drinks and then was asking the same questions multiple times, S Bhattacharjee, a co-passenger, said on Sunday. The incident happened after lunch was served. "He (the accused) had 4 drinks and then was asking me the same questions multiple times. I finished lunch, and told the flight attendant to keep an eye on him," Bhattacharjee said. 

He further said that the lady, who was urinated upon, was quite decent. "Two junior Air hostesses cleaned her up. I went to the senior stewardess and asked them to give her another seat, she said that she can't do that as they had to take permission from the Captain," the co-passenger said.

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