Published On : Fri, Mar 24th, 2017

IndiGo cancels Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad’s Pune ticket after Air India snub

Advertisement


Mumbai:
Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, Ravindra Gaikwad, in the news for slapping an Air India employee with his slippers, may be permanently barred from flying on the country’s national carrier. The Osmanabad MP has refused to apologise for his behaviour. According to latest reports, Air India has cancelled Gaikwad’s return ticket from Delhi to Pune.

Following this, IndiGo too canceled Gaikwad’s ticket. The MP was booked on a 5pm flight, but the airline, which along with other private carriers has barred Gaikwad from flying with them, ha cancelled the ticket.

A news agency reported earlier today that the Federation of Indian Airlines, an industry body representing India’s scheduled airline carriers, has blacklisted Gaikwad. The FIA counts Jet Airways, IndiGo, Go Air, SpiceJet and JetLite as its members.

“Air India and FIA member airlines have decided to ban this Member of Parliament from flying on all our flights with immediate effect,” FIA Director Ujjwal Dey, said in a statement.

Air India, meanwhile, has been mulling establishing a no-fly list of passengers with a history of bad behaviour while flying on the airline. Once implemented, Gaikwad, who has remained defiant about the incident while admitting to assaulting the AI employee, would be on the list.

IndiGo and SpiceJet, meanwhile, have lent support to the idea of forming a nationwide no-fly list. “SpiceJet supports a no-fly list to bar unruly flyers who are a safety hazard for not just the crew but even the traveling public. The government needs to act on this soon,” SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh said.

“In the interest of the safety and security of our colleagues and other customers we also propose the promulgation of a “no fly” list which shall include the names of all unruly passengers,” Dey said in the FIA statement.