Air India cabin crew writes to Lok Sabha Speaker

On cam: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaults Air India staffer

NEW DELHI: Air India is now mulling having its own no-fly list to prevent people like the Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from taking to the skies in a hurry. Foreign countries like the US have a no-fly list and people on them are barred from flying any airline there. In fact, airlines are alerted the moment such people try to buy tickets.“We are trying to find out if it is possible to have airline-wise no-fly list. We are working on this issue very seriously,” said a top AI official. Being a VVIP, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad should ‘inaugurate’ the list by being the first person on it, said another official.Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani said in a Facebook post: "Today one MP assaulted an Air Indian at Delhi just because the aircraft did not have executive class. The airline in response filed 2 FIRs in the local police station, one for assault and the second for forcibly occupying and detaining the aircraft for 40 minutes. Last year, there was a similar incident at Tirupati and it too was taken up in all seriousness. We would not permit anyone to misbehave with Air Indians on duty and would go all the way to ensure that justice is done."Aviation minister AG Raju tweeted: “We are also working on creating institutional mechanisms to check undesirable flight behaviour or unruly passengers. Such regrettable incidents should never happen again. Let's all resolve to make them a thing of the past. Received report from AI on the incident of unruly behaviour (Thursday) morning. FIRs have been filed for assault and causing flight delay.”The government is finalising India’s own “no-fly list” that will grade unruly acts committed by flyers and accordingly bar them from flying again for a period ranging from some months to a few years. This is being done to ensure people who can be a threat to co-passengers of flight safety are not allowed to fly.“We will make providing some government I-card at booking or linking a PNR to an identity proof mandatory and this will enable us to track travellers. Once this is done, we will have an Indian version of the no-fly list – a dynamic list where people found to have acted unruly, disruptive or dangerous fashion on flights will keep added. If such a person books a ticket, it will automatically alert agencies that such a person will try to fly and be stopped from doing so,” said a source.To implement this, the government will soon make it mandatory to give some identity proof – like Aadhar number, Pan card, passport or driving licence number – at the time of booking the ticket. For international tickets, passport numbers and visa details have to be given.Air India’s cabin crew association has sought an apology from Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad who beat up an airline staffer with his sandals.The AI All India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA) general-secretary Sanjay Lazar wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, saying: “It is expected that elected members of Parliament behave in a certain manner becoming of their status. It is shocking that the MP not only slapped our 60-year-old staffer with his slipper but also proudly boasted of it to the media afterwards. If this gentleman were anyone other than an MP he would not only be facing criminal charges but also being put on a ‘no-fly list’ like in other parts of the world.”“To hear the tales of this MP (beating with slippers) an aged 60-year-old commercial staff, shows the kind of background and mindset, and it is sickening. We are ashamed today, that such a man is an elected member of Parliament.. This is truly shameful and repugnant and I hope that you will use your powers as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and take up the matter of this MP misbehaving with our staff like this, as a matter of privilege under the conduct rules of the House,” Lazar’s letter says.