Air India CEO Campbell Wilson opens up on unruly passengers, says ‘clearly not helpful when…’
The remarks by the Campbell Wilson came as a male passenger onboard an Air India flight from Goa to Delhi on Monday physically assaulted a crew member
PremiumAir India CEO Campbell Wilson affirmed that the airline needed to and has taken a firm line on unruly passenger behavior onboard aircraft. Campbell Wilson said that unruly passengers are an international airline industry problem, and it is clearly not helpful when such incidents happen. The remarks by the Air India CEO came as a male passenger onboard an Air India flight from Goa to Delhi on Monday physically assaulted a crew member.
The incidents of unruly passengers have increased recently. In most cases, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) takes some action against the airlines for procedural lapses or not taking appropriate action after such incidents.
"As an airline, we needed to and have taken a firm line on unruly behavior onboard aircraft... there is a level of behavior that we expect from people when they fly. Also, imparting that same message to the crew when supporting them," Air India CEO Campbell Wilson told news agency PTI in an interview.
Campbell Wilson stressed that Air India has taken a much more active role in taking action against unruly passengers, but also accepted that such incidents (of unruly behavior) continue to happen. "When they happen, we take action and hopefully in the process, we remind people of what the standard is and we remind people of consequences when the standard is not met," he said.
Air India's CEO added that every airline has to deal with the issue of unruly passengers.
Also Read: Unruly airline passenger incidents increased in past 3 months; here's a look at 8 such cases this year
DGCA has imposed several fines on Air India for lapses in reporting incidents of unruly passenger behavior onboard aircraft. In January, the aviation regulator imposed two big fines on Air India of ₹10 lakh and ₹30 lakh, for not reporting two incidents of unruly passenger behavior onboard its Paris-Delhi flight and New York-Delhi flight.
In the New York-Delhi flight incident, where a person allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger, the DGCA also suspended the license of the pilot in command and slapped a fine of ₹3 lakh on Air India's Director of in-flight services for failing to discharge her duties.
(With agency inputs)
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