But a disturbing allegation of sexual harassment on a transnational flight has added new concerns about airline crew. A passenger from Kerala who had been acting out with a young air hostess onboard the international flight from Bahrain to Bengaluru from Gulf Air, on her way to Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, was arrested by Bengaluru airport police after being charged with inappropriate treatment.
It took place on 5 May, presumably on a Gulf Air flight. The accused, who was identified as Jacob Alexander, was alleged to have brushed the waist of a 24-year-old air hostess when she was on the plane in the incident. The cabin crew member had immediately objected to the passenger’s behaviour and had given the passenger warnings not to do it again, officials said.
But under the warning, the accused reportedly inappropriately pressed his hand against her three times, putting the cabin crew member on edge. Following the constant harassment, the air hostess had reportedly approached the flight captain and filed a formal complaint regarding the passenger’s behaviour.
Then he intervened, questioning the accused about what he had been accused of. Jacob Alexander, if anything, tried to justify his behaviour, claiming that he had touched the air hostess because it was “in friendship,” reports said. The airline crew and other crew found his explanations to be distressing and irresponsible because they were a serious complaint.
Airport security guards and police arrived when the plane landed at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. Following the air hostess' allegations, the accused had been arrested by the Bengaluru Airport Police for sexual harassment and inappropriate physical contact with a woman.
Similarly, the police filed a case about the relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation is ongoing, officials said; statements from passengers and airline crew could also be part of the investigation, which they said could only go so far. The episode has once again highlighted a challenge with crew members, particularly female crew members who work with passengers on a flight.
There have been several calls from the aviation profession and women’s rights groups for more stringent enforcement and quicker sanctioning and punishment for violations in the aviation industry, as well as women’s organisations, just to name a couple.
Most of the time, airline workers have more exposure than airline staff generally encountered in normal passenger behaviour cases, which is particularly horrible and out of character than regular to handle, with the specific types of extreme and severe actions of passengers.
Some aviation industry employees believe keeping up with all of these issues, and how passengers behave in flight and how they are punished, tends to be a good thing.
The Gulf Air incident has also elicited social media comments as users back the airline hostess, and call for harsher punishment when its target is harassed on board. The authorities said they would follow the appropriate legal process as a result of the investigation. He is in police custody, and the charges are still pending.
