Air India on Tuesday said it has reviewed its alcohol policy and stated “some adjustments have been made for better clarity” following the controversy over the incident on its New York-Delhi flight in November last year in which a male passenger allegedly urinated on an elderly female co-passenger.
Tata Group-owned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson had earlier this month stated that the company is reviewing its policy of serving alcohol on flights. The airline is reviewing “policy on service of alcohol in flight,” he had said without elaborating.
In a statement issued by an Air India spokesperson on Tuesday, it stated its existing in-flight alcohol service policy was reviewed by “taking reference from other carriers’ practice and input from the US National Restaurants Association’s guidelines.”
It noted that while Air India’s alcohol policy was found to be largely in line with existing practice, “some adjustments have been made for better clarity and NRA’s Traffic Light system” were included to “help crew recognise and manage possible cases of intoxication.”
The new policy has now been promulgated to the crew and included in the training curriculum, the statement read.
“Air India remains committed to the safety and well-being of our passengers and cabin crew, including but not limited to the responsible service of alcohol,” it added.
News18 had previously taken a look at Air India’s liquor policy guidelines, they are:
Revised Guidelines
Here’s a look at revised guidelines, according to a report by PTI.
- Guests should not be permitted to drink alcohol unless served by the cabin crew.
- Cabin crew be attentive to identifying guests that might be consuming their own alcohol.
- Service of alcoholic beverages must be carried out in a reasonable and safe manner. This includes tactfully refusing to (further) serve a guest alcohol.
Air India Closes Internal Probe
The statement came within hours after Air India announced the closure of its internal investigation into the incident. Air India said the suspension of a pilot-in-command’s licence by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the incident on the New York-Delhi flight on November 26, 2022, was “excessive” and will be assisting him with an appeal.
The carrier acknowledged the decision of the DGCA to impose fines on the company, ground staff and suspension of the Commander’s license as Air India did not “correctly classify the incident” and report the incident as required under the guidelines.
The statement referred to DGCA’s imposition of a financial penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India, a Rs 3 lakh fine on the airline’s director of inflight services and suspension of the pilot-in-command’s licence for three months. Following the controversy, Air India also issued show cause notices to the Pilot-in-Command and four crew members of the flight and derostered them pending investigation.
Mishra Not Served Excessive Alcohol, Didn’t Appear Intoxicated
Without naming the accused, Shankar Mishra, the carrier said he was “calm” and professed ignorance of the allegation when confronted. It also noted he was not served excessive alcohol and did not appear intoxicated by the crew.
“When awoken and confronted with the allegation, the alleged perpetrator was calm, co-operative and professed ignorance of the allegation. He had not been served excessive alcohol by crew and did not appear intoxicated to the crew,” it stated.
In its official statement on its internal committee investigation, Air India stated the “alleged perpetrator was peaceful, co-operative and claiming ignorance of the event, that there was no risk to flight safety.”
After a “resolution had been witnessed between the parties”, the crew made a judgement call to “record the matter as a (non-reportable) inflight incident rather than a (reportable) case of unruliness,” it stated.
“In the absence of any witnesses, the crew took the complainant’s allegation at face value and assisted her by providing fresh clothes, helping clean her belongings and relocating her to another business class seat of the same type as her original one,” it added.
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