By John Ikani
An executive with American banking giant Wells Fargo has been arrested by Indian police for allegedly urinating on a passenger during an Air India flight in November 2022.
Shankar Mishra, who has since been fired by the company, is accused of urinating on an elderly woman on a flight from New York to Delhi.
The incident has sparked outrage, with Wells Fargo calling it “deeply disturbing” and Air India launching an internal investigation and de-restoring four flight crew members and a pilot in response.
Air India has also faced criticism for its handling of the case, including its decision to not file an official complaint until over a month after the incident occurred and its cabin crew’s decision to allow Mishra to leave after being notified of the incident.
India’s aviation safety regulator has issued a press statement condemning the airline’s “unprofessional conduct” in the matter.
According to media reports, Mishra, who was drunk at the time of the incident, unzipped his pants and urinated on the elderly woman.
The incident came to light after an Indian newspaper published the complaint written by the woman to the chairman of the company that owns the airline.
In the complaint, the woman stated that she asked for a change of seat after the incident, but was told that no seats were available.
She was eventually given a small seat used by airline staff to sit in for about an hour before being asked to return to her original, urine-soaked seat.
Despite the airline covering the seat with sheets, the area was still damp and smelled of urine.
The woman was later given a steward’s seat to sit in for the remainder of the flight, which lasted approximately five hours.
The woman also stated that, when Mishra sobered up, he apologized and began crying, begging her not to file any complaints.
However, Mishra has since released a statement through an attorney claiming that he reached a settlement with the woman and paid her compensation.
The incident has sparked outrage in India, with many calling for stricter penalties for in-flight offenses.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the aviation regulatory body in India, has criticized the airline for failing to report the incident and said that the airline’s conduct “appears to be unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.”
The case has also raised concerns about the overall safety and security of Air India flights. The airline, which was recently acquired by Tata Group after decades under state control, has faced heavy criticism for its handling of the woman’s complaint and the overall incident.
Many are calling for a thorough investigation into the matter and for steps to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
It remains to be seen how the case will proceed and what the ultimate outcome will be, but it is clear that the incident has caused significant disruption and outrage among travelers and industry officials alike.
