Pee-gate shocker: Air India amends existing in-flight liquor policy

In the wake of multiple untoward incidents on its flights Air India has modified its inflight alcohol service policy wherein cabin crew have been told to tactfully refuse further serving of alcohol if neededAccording to the revised policy Alcoholic beverages must be served in an appropriate and safe manner This also includes refusing to serve alcohol further to the guests Air India said in a statement on TuesdayAir India faced heavy backlash from everywhere including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its poor handling of the backtoback incidents of unruly behavior of passengers on its flightsWe have reviewed our existing inflight alcohol service policy taking reference from other carriers practice and input from the US National Restaurants Associations guidelines These were largely in line with Air Indias existing practice though some adjustments have been made for better clarity Air India saidThe airline has also included NRAs Traffic Light system to help the crew recognize and manage possible cases of intoxicationAlso Read ParisNew Delhi flight incidents DGCA slaps Rs 10 lakh fine on Air IndiaThe new policy has now been promulgated to crew and included in training curricula Air India remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and cabin crew including but not limited to the responsible service of alcohol the statement addedRegarding the alleged urination case in the New YorkNew Delhi flight on November 26 last Air India has closed its internal inquiry into the matter Also will assist the chief pilot in his appeal against the suspension of the license by the DGCAThe DGCA suspended the license of an Air India pilot for 3 months in connection with the incident of urination in the aircraft Air India was fined Rs 30 lakh and the director of inflight services of the airline was fined Rs 3 lakh tooEarlier on Monday the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for not reporting incidents of passenger misbehavior to the regulatory body during the ParisNew Delhi flight on December 6 last year and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee The aviation body said the matter is a violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation RequirementsIn a statement DGCA said that action was taken on the incident of passenger misbehavior which occurred on the AI142 flight dated December 6 2022 from Paris to New Delhi came to the notice of DGCA wherein one passenger was caught smoking in the lavatory was drunk and not adhering to the crew instructions and another passenger allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and blanket of a fellow female passenger when she went to the lavatoryDGCA had issued a show cause notice to the Accountable Manager of Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligationsEarlier on November 26 last year a man named Shankar Mishra allegedly urinated on a 70yearold woman copassenger in an inebriated condition in business class of an Air India New YorkNew Delhi flight but the incident was not reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA which was attributed to the delay in reporting the incident by the airline crewAfter the urination incident Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline also reviewing other aspects related to the incident including its alcoholserving policyInternal investigations into whether there were lapses by other staff are ongoing on aspects including the service of alcohol on the flight incident handling complaint registration on board and grievance handling the CEO statement read earlierThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever