Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran issued a media statement over the ‘peeing’ incident that took place in a Air India flight between New York and New Delhi, when a passenger Shankar Mishra allegedly urinated on an elderly woman co-passenger on November 26, 2022.
In the statement, Chandrasekaran accepted that Air India should have responded to the situation more swiftly.
“The incident on Air India flight Al102 on November 26th, 2022, has been a matter of personal anguish to me and my colleagues at Air India,” he said.
“Air India’s response should have been much swifter. We fell short of addressing this situation the way it should have been,” he added.
The statement was released by Tata Sons chairman 44 days after the incident took place but came to light recently following which there was public outrage over the negligence as the authorities assured to take action.
Chandrasekaran stated that the Tata group and Air India are committed to ensure passengers’ well-being and safety.
“The Tata group and Air India stand by the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew with full conviction. We will review and repair every process to prevent or address any incidents of such unruly nature,” the statement added.
Accused sent to judicial custody
Meanwhile, the accused Shankar Mishra has been sent to judicial remand for a period of 14 days by the Delhi court after the police’s plea for his custody was rejected.
After the judgement, a bail plea was moved by the lawyer of accused Mishra which will be heard by the court on January 11.
Mishra who faced termination from his job at Wells Fargo, an American financial services company, was arrested in Bengaluru on Friday.
WATCH | Air India Urination Case: Man arrested for peeing on woman on plane, sent to jail
Air India crew de-rostered
So far, the statements of Air India’s three crew members were recorded by Delhi Police in connection with the “pee-gate”.
A show cause notice has already been issued by the Air Indian over the ‘urinating’ incident and one pilot along with four cabin crew have been de-rostered as the incident continues to be investigated, said CEO Campbell Wilson.
“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,” Wilson said.
(With inputs from agencies)
