Air India fined for not reporting unruly passenger behavior on Paris-New Delhi flight

On Tuesday, Aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakhs on Tata-owned Air India for not reporting to it the 6 December 2022 incident when a man allegedly peed on a blanket on the vacant seat of a woman in a Paris-Delhi flight.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the Tata-run airline delayed in referring to the 6 December 2022 incident to its internal committee. This was the second incident where of a man peed on a passenger’s seat on board an Air India flight, after another man allegedly peed on a woman co-passenger on a New York-Delhi flight on 26 November 2022.

Also, read: Air India: Passenger Who Urinated On woman In New York-New Delhi Flight Banned Only For 30 Days

Earlier in January the DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the Accountable Manager of Air India after two incidents of passenger misbehavior occurred on the airline’s flight AI-142 came to the notice of the regulator. The show cause notice said- why enforcement action “should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations”.

Aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation statements

“Enforcement action in the form of a financial penalty of Rs 10,00,000 has been imposed on Air India for not reporting the incident to DGCA and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee, which is a violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements,” the statement said.

Air India “didn’t report the incident until DGCA sought the incident report from them on 05.01.2023,” the DGCA said in a statement.

The airline’s reply made it clear that it did not follow “provisions related to the handling of unruly passengers as per DGCA,” the statement said.

Prior to this, DGCA imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India as well as suspended the license of the pilot-in-command of the New York-Delhi flight on 26 November 2022, in which a person allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger.

Also, read: Teddy Hobbs can read fluently and count in seven languages, becomes Britain’s youngest Mensa member