After Air India, private carriers lift ban on Shiv Sena MP
A day after Air India lifted the ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, the Federation of Indian Airlines also revoked its ban on the legislator. Reinstating his flying privileges, the FIA, however, said its colleagues must be treated with the respect that they deserve. Notably, the ban was imposed after Gaikwad repeatedly thrashed an Air India staffer.
A day after Air India lifted the ban on Ravindra Gaikwad, the Federation of Indian Airlines, a group of major private carriers, also revoked its ban on the Shiv Sena Member of Parliament. Gaikwad had been barred from flying by Air India and the FIA after he repeatedly hit an Air India staffer during an argument on March 23. On Friday, the Osmanabad MP wrote to the Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing 'regret' for the incident, which grabbed national headlines.Following his Parliament statement, the Minsitry of Civil Aviation ordered the national carrier to lift its fly ban on Gaikwad.   In a statement, Ujjawal Dey, the associate director of the FIA, said, "Consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Mr. Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by the Member of Parliament, the FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr. Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day." The FIA counts Jet Airways, Go Air, IndiGo, JetLite and SpiceJet among its members. With this, Gaikwad, who travelled to Mumbai today morning in the Rajdhani Express, is free to fly any route, any airline. Vistara remains the only private airline that hasn't yet clarified whether they will fly the controversial MP or not.THE INCIDENTOn March 23, Gaikwad reached Delhi in an Air India flight and got into an argument with airline employees while his plane was still on the tarmac. The MP was angry over not being allocated a business class seat despite having a ticket for the same. Gaikwad claimed Air India did not inform at the time of booking that his flight would not have business class seating. Minutes into the argument, Gaikwad started slapping a 60-year-old Air India staffer with his slippers. The airline registered a case with the Delhi Police and proceeded to impose a fly ban on him the next day. The following two weeks saw much controversy with private airliners joining Air India's stand even as the brazen MP refused to apologise. His party, Shiv Sena, too backed him, calling the decision of the airlines to bar him from flying unfair.