We’ve all had difficult seatmates, and the number of passengers behaving badly on airplanes remains elevated compared to before the pandemic. There aren’t nearly as many incidents on planes as there were when masks were required, but there are still too many.
But in a great reminder that the worst behavior isn’t strictly reserved for flights in the United States (or on British holiday airline Jet2), a woman flying business class on Air India had one of the worst possible experiences imaginable on a trip. Out of the blue a man came up to her seat, unzipped his fly, and urinated on her.
The woman, in her 70s, was seated in 9A on flight AI102 from New York JFK to Delhi on November 26. In a letter to Air India, she explains that towards the beginning of the flight, after the first meal service had ended,
I was getting ready to sleep when another passenger walked to my seat inebriated. He unzipped his pants, relieved himself and exposed me to his private parts…
The crew was not proactive in managing a very sensitive and traumatic situation, and I had to advocate for myself throughout, waiting for long periods of time to get a response. I am particularly distressed that the airline made no attempt to ensure my safety or comfort during this incident…
My clothes, shoes and bag were completely soaked in urine. The stewardess followed me to the seat, verified that it smelled of urine, and sprayed disinfectant on my bag and shoes. The bag contained my passport, travel documents and currency, among other items.
She was given pajamas and slippers to change into, and offered a crew seat to use for an hour – before being told to return to her seat. After a couple of hours there, she was offered a different crew seat to sit in upright for the rest of the flight to India. There were open seats in first class, but she wasn’t allowed to use one of those. (In the past crew choosing whom to upgrade on board has been a problem at the airline.)
Flight attendants arranged a wheelchair so she would “clear customs as quickly as possible.” But the wheelchair attendant didn’t bring her to customs, it “deposited [her] at a waiting area, where [she] waited for 30 minutes, and nobody came to get [her].” She finally gave up and walked through immigration and customs, still wearing the pajamas she’d been given.
Nothing happened to the man inflight, and the incident wasn’t reported to authorities until after the woman wrote to the airline. According to Air India,
We are aware of the incident involving a passenger who had behaved in an unacceptable manner, affecting another. Air India has reported the incident to police and regulatory authorities for them to further investigate and take any necessary action against the misbehaving party. We have also been in regular contact with the aggrieved passenger and her family during the investigation and reporting process.
Angrier & edgy a given but sick to this extent?🙏🏼
Airlines will need to train crew to intervene,mitigate, damage control exceptional cases.
Crew could have supported/comforted the old passenger,from this report seems didn’t.
Man needs to be on no fly list.@airindiain @ManjuVTOI pic.twitter.com/uN05zMgsei— manisha singhal (@manishasinghal) January 4, 2023
(HT: H.G.)
Really man, seriously dude, please don’t publish garbage like this. It not only demeans this blog but you as an individual as well. Not everything is clickbait thus it’s allowed. Something tells me, that by you publishing this shit, are equally as sick and twisted as that guy. Shame on you!!! I am totally sick to my stomach.
Wow that normally only happens in economy on Air India
No need to get pissed.
Did @Gravelly Point Guy fly from New York JFK to Delhi on November 26?
Thing 1 that rather looks like Thing 2: Stop being a boot licker doing someone else’s dirty work. Shut up and let Leff stand up for himself. Pathetic!!!
It’s really outrageous conduct for any person on any airline and we pity the poor passenger. It could happen to any of us. It’s equally an outrage to make light of this. All these snide comments are totally out of place. Gary was 100% correct. Prosecute the pervert.
Arrest him, put him on no fly list. Fiercely reprimanded the crew for not putting her in first class immediately.
@Mets Fan in NC: But in Basic Economy they charge a $30 fee for the service.
Absolutely: This is disgusting, repulsive, and outrageous. Having spent 40+ weeks in India spread over 8 trips (not nearly enough to truly understand the place, I know), I’d guess that it may have been a real or perceived caste issue. It really doesn’t matter, the travesty is that this poor woman is highly unlikely to get justice as we understand it here. It is precisely for this reason that I appreciate Gary publishing it (and Manisha tweeting about it), because the only way that Air India is going to do the right thing is if there’s a massive global outcry. There needs to be thousands (not hundreds) of travelers all over the world canceling flights and threatening boycotts in order to get their attention. Thanks for the awareness, Gary.
Actually this is the first I have heard of this incident. I am now informed that Air India is another airline that I need not to fly. As to the fake outrage exhibited by some commenters, grow up!!!
Thing1: I believe GPG just confirmed your theory!
Also that he has no sense of humor….
Gravelly Point Guy,
One of the biggest newspaper companies in India published this story. It happens to be the newspaper which I’ve known to be read by all of the Indian Prime Ministers during the course of Señor Leff’s life.
GPG. You need to stop being a jerk yourself. With your attitude, I can’t imagine what your response would have been. I bet your attitude would change.
@Gravelly Point Guy: You must be new here.
@TexasTJ – So an inebriated man didn’t know where he was and ended up peeing on a passenger is now a caste issue, really??!! If that’s your take after 40+ weeks in India, then having been in the US for 10+ years, i will venture that you are one of those born-again christians running around asia trying to ‘save’ pagans !! There you go…
@ Gravelly Point Guy says:
“let Leff stand on his own, let him stand up for his actions”
Hint – he won’t – just as he won’t change his articles when shown to be factually incorrect or answer any cogent counter arguments – this travel blog is going down the “gurgler” fast – regressing into a click bait fest…
And I agree – it’s sad that certain acolytes herein feel the need to step in rather than let the “thought leader” articulate his own argument when his position is evidenced as untenable…
There is nothing to indicate this incident had anything to do with caste issues. It may have had to do with sexism.
Truly astonishing how low and dumb some are who use this service. We are not acolytes. Just thoughtful sensible people. What Gary brought to us was truly disturbing.
Wow, now you can get a ‘shower’ on Air India. I guess, at least the offending passenger didn’t defecate on her. Maybe that will happen next on AI.
This site becomes worthless if used for stupid purposes. some should be permanently banned.
Definitely piss pour behavior.
And for those people (sometimes repeatedly) whining about Gary and his blog, I hope he refunds you cranky asses every penny you paid to read it. I’m so sorry you are forced to subscribe!
The victim was treated terribly. Awful customer service and perhaps sexism/caste issues given the appalling lack of sympathy for the victim. The airline behaved intolerably and even tried to cover up the incident. Thank goodness for media bringing this out