Can airlines bar Shiv Sena MP from flying? Centre to review

NEW DELHI: All those rejoicing Indian carriers’ decision to bar Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from flying should keep their celebrations on hold.The government is examining the ‘legality’ of all schedule Indian airlines ’ move to bar him from flying. Air India , IndiGo, Jet Airways , SpiceJet and GoAir had issued the first-of-its-kind no-fly order for an individual on Friday, a day after the MP had beaten up an AI staffer with his sandals. Tata Group airlines, Vistara and AirAsia India, have also decided to bar Gaikwad for their flights.“The airlines have advised us that they would not be willing to carry this particular passenger (Gaikwad). We are studying their inputs on this matter. This is an action they have taken independently and we are examining it. Any action undertaken has to be lawful; it has to fit in with the general provisions of the law and the Aircraft Act. We are seeing how this whole approach should work. We have to see if this action of the airlines is within the framework of law,” Jayant Sinha, Union minister of state for aviation, told TOI.If the government says the ban is not in conformity with the law, then there could be a face-off with Indian carriers who, for once, are unanimous on the issue of not allowing Gaikwad on their flights.The incident of Shiv Sena MP beating up a 60-year-old AI staffer and threatening to throw him out of an aircraft at Delhi Airport on Thursday caused a strong resentment among airlines, and AI decided to cancel his return ticket.“Air India and Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA, which comprises of IndiGo, Jet, SpiceJet and GoAir) member airlines have decided to ban this MP from flying on all our flights with immediate effect. We believe that exemplary action should be taken in such incidents to protect employee morale and public safety,” said Ujjwal Dey of FIA in a joint AI-FIA statement on Friday.“A common citizen would have been arrested on the spot for behaving like this. The MP stayed on the aircraft for 40 minutes and had to be ‘requested’ to alight. A common man even threatening to stay inside an aircraft and abusing crew would be handed over to security and jailed,” fumed an airline official.Airlines have called for strictest possible legal action against the MP. Indian carriers have so far never barred any individual from flying and Gaikwad’s is the first such case. “Airlines staffers – cutting across all carriers – are very upset with what Gaikwad did on an Air India plane. He may get violent again. We also fear that other passengers and/or airline/airport staff may return the favour to the MP. In the interest of safety, he may have to be barred from flying,” said an airline official.