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An Air India flight attendant was attacked this week while sleeping in her room at the Radisson RED Hotel London Heathrow, which is near London Heathrow Airport (LHR). The attacker broke into her room and was brutally attacked. Thankfully, her fellow crew members in nearby rooms heard her screams and were able to frighten off the assailant.
The intruder broke into her room and allegedly beat her with a coat hanger before dragging her to the floor. She ended up being battered and bruised from the attack and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. She was kept in the hospital to recover and has since flown back to her home in India.
Air India Statement:
We are deeply anguished by an unlawful incident of intrusion at a hotel, operated by a major international chain that affected one of our own. At Air India, we are as concerned about this incident as all of you are.We are providing all possible support to…
— Air India (@airindia) August 18, 2024
Air India released the following statement after the attack:
We are deeply anguished by an unlawful incident of intrusion at a hotel, operated by a major international chain that affected one of our own. At Air India, we are as concerned about this incident as all of you are.
We are providing all possible support to our colleague and the broader team, including professional counseling. Air India is also working with the local police and will pursue the matter to the fullest extent of the law.
We constantly review travel and stay arrangements, made at reputed international hotel chains, based on feedback of our employees and internal review to ensure the safety and comfort of employees. In this particular instance, we have taken immediate measures and decided to move our colleagues to another hotel.
We have reached out to the management of the current hotel to ensure the security of colleagues staying there. We have been given an assurance that there will be no compromise to safety and security till such time our colleagues are relocated to another hotel.
Our team in London is actively monitoring the safety aspects and will be available for any support during this period.
Air India accords foremost priority to the safety, security and wellbeing of all employees who travel on duty.
We request that the privacy of those involved is respected. Requesting all to refrain and use their judgement towards speculation on social media posts.”
The airline has switched hotels for flight attendant layovers and is continuing to work on better security for its staff. Reportedly, the crew had complained about the hotel’s lack of security and not feeling safe in this location. It’s unclear how the assailant entered the flight attendant’s room or what would have happened to her had others not heard her cries and intervened.
Flight attendants used to be housed in four- and five-star hotels on layovers. Due to budget constraints, they had been moved to three-star hotels. This is now being reevaluated in light of this incident by the airline’s fairly recent new owners, Tata Group. Pilots are still provided higher-end hotels.
Anthony’s Take: What a sad situation. People are horrible and I hope this woman gets the help she needs to heal physically and psychologically.
(Featured Image Credit: Air India.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
