'Only So Much An Airline Can Do', Air India CEO Says On Passenger Misconduct

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Air India Managing Director and CEO Campbell Wilson has said that while the airline is taking several steps to address complaints about service quality and passenger behaviour, there are limitations to what can be controlled. "It does involve at one level the behaviour of passengers, quite clearly. There's only so much an airline can do about that," Wilson told NDTV, responding to recent criticism about service standards and aircraft interiors.On March 5, Air India Flight 126 (Chicago–Delhi) was forced to turn back mid-air after eight out of 12 lavatories on board became unserviceable. Upon inspection, the airline found rags, polythene bags, and clothes flushed down the toilets, rendering them unusable and causing severe discomfort to passengers on the long-haul flight.Wilson said addressing such incidents is a 'multifaceted' challenge. "I think as an industry, and as a media, a regulator, authorities, we need to be very clear about what is acceptable standard of behavior on any form of transport, aviation included," he said."As an airline, we need to equip our crew with the training and the confidence and the assurance that they will be supported when they hold people to standards of behavior that we expect," Wilson added. "We need to hold customers to those standards if they transgress. And then we have to educate, because it is true that some people may not be experienced travelers, and may not be aware of the implications of their actions or the implications of having, you know, one too many drinks at altitude."While acknowledging that there's no easy solution, Wilson stressed the need for persistent efforts. "It’s just something we need to keep at," he said.Commenting on the financial and operational costs of such disruptions, Wilson said, "It’s very expensive and very inconvenient to the other few hundred passengers who are aboard the aircraft, as well as to subsequent flights and those that are waiting at the other end for the aircraft to arrive."The Air India CEO said dealing with difficult passenger behaviour is now a key part of crew and ground staff training. "It’s very much a stepped-up part of our training program, arising from incidents that have occurred over the past few years," he said.Wilson also confirmed that Air India blacklists passengers when necessary. "The authorities have realised this was an impediment to reporting and therefore encouraging good behaviour. So they have changed the process so that our crew can be able to do their duty of reporting, without having to be so inconvenienced in the process," he said."People are recognising the issue. The solutions are coming into place. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but I think there’s a concerted and shared vision to solve it," Wilson said.IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet Issue Advisories As Border Tensions Hit Airport Operations In J&K, Punjab. Read more on Business by NDTV Profit.