Teammates say 'urinator' acted out of character

Michael Aitken. Photo / Supplied

A friend of the Jetstar urinator says he is a "party guy", but the incident was out of character and had embarrassed him.

Marty Davison is the captain of Michael Aitken's basketball squad, and said he had seen his teammate enjoy a good time.

"He always was a bit of a party guy. But he never really gets into that state. He keeps control."

He said Mr Aitken, the son of Silver Ferns' coach Ruth Aitken, made a mistake by drinking too much on the plane.

"He's a really great teammate, really energetic all the time."

A second teammate also had no bad words to say about the 20-year-old. Chris Duthie played with Mr Aitken this year in the Canterbury Under 21 basketball team.

"Michael's a great guy, he's a good teammate ... He's a positive guy," he said of the forward.

"He's never done anything like this before."

Mr Aitken - a former Paeroa College runner-up Dux - is a third year civil engineering student. He is on a three-week break from Canterbury University.

He made headlines last Monday by peeing in the aisle of a Jetstar flight from Auckland to Singapore, hitting a man's coat and laptop and a woman's scarf.

Jetstar has "resolved" the incident, and offered compensation to those affected, the company said.

Jetstar has publicly apologised, and has reprimanded the cabin staff after they failed to clean up the pool of urine during the remainder of the flight.

Ruth Aitken is with the team in Singapore for the netball world championships.

She said she learned about the Jetstar incident on Sunday.

"He is hugely embarrassed at what has been reported and the thought that he could have done something like that is just beyond belief, for all of us - him included."

Mrs Aitken and her husband Grant Aitken, Paeroa College principal, don't condone the reported behaviour, she said.

"He's deeply sorry if he's offended anyone, and he is just beside himself because he can't remember," Mrs Aitken said.