What exactly is this Peegate? What are the rules against such behavior on airlines? And if you face something like this, then what are your rights?
Think about this on a flight if a stranger urinates on your body, how will you feel? It’s not believable, but it’s true: in a fight coming from New York to Delhi, something like this happened. The shocking part is that this incident happened in business class. it means money can give name and fame but cannot give some manners. Are we Indians always going to spoil our country’s image?
Exactly what happened?
Let’s get to the point and understand what happened on this Air India flight. A stranger passenger was drinking alcohol on the flight. After the flight took off, he got up from his seat and walked towards another seat. He opened the zip of his pants and started urinating on a senior lady sitting there. The lady was scared; she was confused as to what was happening. even after this nasty act, with his pants’ zip open. He was standing in front of her. After some time, he came to his seat and fell asleep. Let me remind you that all of this was happening in business class. Just think about a height of 3000 feet. On a long international flight, if something like this happens to you, how will you feel? That lady complained to the cabin crew and asked for their help. in a small toilet in that aircraft. That lady had to clean herself. crew gave her the Pyjamas (clothes), which is available in airlines. and started cleaning her seat. You may be thinking that after such a traumatic and humiliating incident, the lady would have been immediately shifted to another seat. but it didn’t happen, other passengers of that airline say that she was kept standing for 20 minutes, then the small seat where the crew member sit. She was made to sit there. then her original was cleaned, and she was asked to sit there only. when she refused, then after two hours she was allotted a new seat. usually on an international airline. There are three seating classes: the cheapest is the economy class, which is known as coach; then comes business class, whose ticket price is on average 3.5 times more expensive than economy class; and first class, which is even more expensive, with a price that is usually double that of business class.
On this Air India flight, four first-class seats were vacant out of goodwill and as an act of apology. She would have been offered a first-class seat, but that didn’t happen. as per that man, who was sleeping until now. When he woke up, he knew what had happened. He awoke from his trance and apologised to the lady. You must believe the flight has landed. The airline may have taken some strict action. but they banned that passenger only for 30 days. from taking any Air India flight, which means he is free to take any other flight, and after 30 days, free to take an Air India flight too. He is free to do such an act again with some other person. This Air India incident occurred on November 26, 2022. and he is being arrested today, in January 2023, and that too when that lady wrote a letter to Tata’s chairman. and asked for help. Just think when this incident will be known by people abroad and what their impressions will be of Indian Airlines. This is not a single incident.
A few days ago, on a flight from Bangkok to Kolkata, something similar happened. A Thai Smile airline flight got delayed, and suddenly two Indian passengers started fighting. The reason was just that one passenger had reclined his seat a bit, and when the other passenger requested, he still wasn’t making it straight. This incident was recorded by a third passenger, and the video went viral. Even our aviation minister said that such behaviour must never be tolerated. Action must be taken quickly.
Rules and your rights
I personally don’t understand why we even get alcohol on flights. The point is that alcohol acts as a sedative and can help some people sleep, but it is not served on Saudi airlines. Should we stop serving alcohol? because people can’t control themselves. Let’s talk about the rules now. I strongly advise you to save these rules somewhere so that you are aware of your rights.
Rule 1: Your safety during a flight is the pilot’s responsibility.
Rule 2: If the cabin crew is unable to handle the situation, then by law, the situation is to be handled by the pilot.
Rule 3: If an unruly behaviour occurs during a flight, the airline must file an FIR immediately after the flight lands.
In 2017, on an Air India flight, an MP from Maharashtra assaulted a staff member. Then we woke up suddenly and made new rules. where unruly behaviour is classified into three types. The first category includes physical gestures and verbal threats. The second category includes hitting, pushing, or sexual assault. and a third category includes aircraft damage or physical assault. By rule, if anyone misbehaves as mentioned in the third category, then such a disruptive passenger can be banned for 2 years to a lifetime. These rules are good but need improvement because this ban is limited to an airline. Even after getting banned for life, a passenger can get a ticket from some other airline and travel from there. and this notification contradicts our constitution itself. Our constitution’s Article 21 gives us the “Right to Travel.” This is our fundamental right. The DGCA recommends keeping restraint devices such as handcuffs on hand to prevent such behavior. The important thing is that the laws be clear, and every passenger must be informed about these laws before the flight begins. If we receive information about seat belts on a regular basis. Then why not this? Don’t you think this 1-minute message can make our flight experience safer?
Conclusion
Even after 75 years since India’s independence, the world still believes. India is known as a snake charmer’s paradise. whenever foreigners come to India, instead of watching India’s beauty. They are more interested in slum tourism; they like watching poverty pornography more. why so? Because we Indians have spoiled our image, we have it tattooed on our foreheads: “We won’t improve.” There was a time when Singapore Airlines was taking training from Air India about airline operations. Today, Air India wants to be revived, and Tata wants to be revived, and the responsibility lies not only with the management but also with the passengers, because if such incidents continue, passengers will regard the airline as third class, which is not the case.
My personal experience with Air India has always been good, but one bad experience pierces you like a small stone and wastes all the efforts taken over the years. We say “Atithi Devo Bhava” in our culture. When a foreigner visitor comes here or we go there, we are not just individuals. We are representing India. Our behaviour is our country’s too. So, why do we break up airport lines? We steal headphones, pillows, and blankets. Keep the toilets dirty. Of course, only Indians are not rule breakers, but if we are dreaming of becoming Vishwaguru, then we can make these small changes in our behavior.