Headlines
Government regrets flight delays due to minister, staff
New Delhi, July 2
Following a central minister
and a state official recently causing flight delays and inconvenience
to air passengers and the Prime Minister's Office seeking a report on
it, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju on Thursday expressed
regrets and assured that such episodes would not recur.
At a
press conference here, Raju said he has called for an investigation into
the matter pertaining to the central minister and was awaiting for the
first reports to come in before initiating action. He did not spell out
what action was contemplated.
"I've called in for information.
But since people have been inconvenienced, I as the civil aviation
minister of this country offer my apologies. Let the first reports come
in. Let us know the truth and I will do my duty," Raju added.
At the same time, the minister sought to brush aside the matter.
"These
things routinely happen with all the airlines, not just Air India. In
fact, they have been operating on time and serving the Indian skies
well," he said, adding that his colleagues were actually complaining
that they were missing flights due to Air India's on-time performance.
The
minister's reaction came after the Prime Minister's Office asked the
civil aviation ministry for a report on the delay in two Air India
flights on account of VIP travels.
"PMOIndia asks Ministry of
Civil Aviation for a report on delay in #AirIndia flights on account of
VIP travels in the recent past," Press Information Bureau chief Frank
Noronha tweeted.
The civil aviation minister said it was in
public knowledge that the PMO had inquired about the recent flight
delays. "But we have not yet received any formal inquiry from them. But
it is expected soon."
The controversy was triggered after three
passengers were reportedly taken off an Air India flight at Leh in order
to accommodate union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju
and an aide last week.
On Thursday, Rijiju clarified that he was
unaware that an Air India flight was allegedly delayed and three
passengers made to de-board to accommodate him and an aide at the last
minute.
"Usually, I am informed about all my travel arrangements
while I am on an official assignment," Rijiju told IANS from Darjeeling,
where he has gone to check the damage caused by landslides in the hill
district of West Bengal.
"But I can't be blamed for the
happening as the Leh administration didn't inform me on what basis they
were making the changes to accommodate me on the Air India flight," the
minister added.
Earlier this week, an Air India flight from
Mumbai to New York, with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on
board, was reportedly delayed by nearly an hour. This was allegedly
done to accommodate a member of his entourage.
While Fadnavis denied any such hold-up, Air India confirmed the delay, albeit for different reasons.
"The
flight AI-191 of 29th of June 15 was delayed by total 57 minutes. The
delay was partly due to technical/operational reasons and also due to
ATC (air traffic control)," an airline official said in a statement.
Senior
Air India official told IANS that the government has given clear
instructions not to give any undue privileges or advantages to any
individual, even government servants or ministers.
"There were
many erstwhile practices and protocols that have been stopped. Now no
price concession or preference based seats are allotted to anyone. Nor
any changes done in the boarding or de-boarding procedures even for VIP
travellers," a senior Air India official told IANS here.
"However,
some safety practices are still maintained which are mandatory. But the
latest incidents have nothing to do with them."
Meanwhile, the
opposition Congress criticised the government and demanded an apology
from the minister who caused inconvenience to passengers. The opposition
termed the occurrences as “misdeeds†of the ruling party.
“Just
because the prime minister is keeping mum, these issues are not going to
be kept under carpet. We demand that the ministers who misused their
authority and put ordinary passengers to difficulty and to great
hardship should apologize openly,†senior Congress leader P.C. Chako
told the media here.