Pee-gate: Air India imposes 4-month flying ban on Shankar Mishra

Air India on Thursday (January 19) said it has imposed a four-month flying ban on Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on a woman co-passenger onboard a flight in November last year.

An airline official said the ban is with immediate effect and is in addition to the 30-day ban it had imposed on the individual earlier. Mishra, who was in an inebriated condition, allegedly urinated on the woman co-passenger onboard the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26, 2022.

“The independent three-member Internal Committee under the chairmanship of a former District Judge has concluded that Shankar Mishra is covered under the definition of unruly passenger and is banned from flying for a period of 4 months as per the relevant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR),” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement. The passenger has already been put on the airlines no fly list.

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Tata group-owned Air India has shared a copy of the committees report with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and will also be intimating other airlines operating in the country, the spokesperson said. Other airlines can take their own decision on whether any ban should be imposed on the individual.

Currently, Mishra is in jail and the case is before a Delhi court.

Show-cause notices

On January 4, Air India said it has imposed a 30-day travel ban on Mishra but did not disclose the time period of the ban. A day later, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued notices to the officials and crew of the New York-Delhi flight, asking why action should not be taken against them for “dereliction” of duty while handling the November 26 urination incident.

“The conduct of the concerned airline appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure,” the regulator had said about the incident.

DGCA has issued show cause notices to the accountable manager of Air India, its director in-flight services, all the pilots and cabin crew members of that flight as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations.

Under DGCA rules, the airline concerned is responsible for informing the regulator within 12 hours of landing of the aircraft in case of any incident of unruly passengers/ passenger rage/misconduct reported in their flight.

Besides, the airline concerned has to set up a three-member internal committee. It will have a retired District and Sessions Judge as Chairman, a representative from a different scheduled airline as a member and a representative from a passengers association or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum as the third member.

With agency inputs