Passenger Assaults and Abuses Air India Official on Flight; Airline Vows Strict Action

In a recent incident of mid-air unruly behavior, a passenger on a Sydney-Delhi Air India flight on July 9 allegedly assaulted and verbally abused a senior Air India official. The incident occurred when the official, who had to move to an economy class seat due to a malfunction in his business class seat, politely requested the accused passenger to lower his voice, according to a source.

The Air India official was assigned seat 30-C in the economy class but chose to sit in row 25 since there were other passengers already occupying his designated seat. The source claimed that the official asked the co-passenger to speak softly, but in response, the accused passenger slapped and verbally abused him, twisting his head. Despite the intervention of five cabin crew members, the unruly passenger could not be contained, and the official had to move to the rear seats.

According to the source, the unruly passenger tampered with emergency equipment and freely roamed around the aisle. The cabin supervisor was summoned, and the passenger received a verbal and written warning. Surprisingly, despite the physical assault, no restraining devices were used by the crew to control the situation, as per the source.

In response to the incident, Air India released a statement expressing their dismay. The statement mentioned that the passenger on flight AI-301 from Sydney to Delhi on July 9, 2023, displayed unacceptable behavior throughout the flight, disregarding verbal and written warnings, and causing distress to fellow passengers, including one of their employees. The passenger was handed over to the security agency upon the flight’s safe landing in Delhi, and he later provided a written apology.

Air India informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the country’s aviation regulator, about the incident, ensuring appropriate action would be taken. The airline emphasized its commitment to taking a strong stance against misbehavior and affirmed that they would pursue legal measures to address the incident fully.