Unconditional apology or nothing: Air India grounds Sena MP Gaikwad for 7th time

New Delhi: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad again tried to book tickets on Air India flights on Friday, but the airline rejected the booking.

This is the seventh attempt on the part of the Sena MP to book a flight on Air India, which barred him from flying after he assaulted the airline's staffer.

A copy of Ravindra Gaikwad's cancelled ticket. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

"There was an attempt to book a ticket at 5 AM today through our web portal. The reservations were being made for March 17 for travel from Delhi to Mumbai and for 24 March from Mumbai to Delhi," said an airline source.

The ticket was being booked under the name 'Ravindra Gaikwad' and we were alerted through our tracker, the source said.

The MP has also made an attempt each to book an IndiGo flight as well as a SpiceJet flight, since the flying ban on him by all domestic carriers was put in place.

The Air India Cabin Crew Association has said that Gaikwad must not be allowed to fly until he tenders an "unconditional apology" for beating up a 60-year-old staffer, and asserted that he poses a risk to flight safety.

In a letter to the AI Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani, the association has said that a decision by either the Ministry of Civil Aviation or Parliament to lift the ban will affect the morale of the employees.

"Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board," says the letter.

Yesterday, Gaikwad, in a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapthi Raju, had conveyed his "regrets" over the "unfortunate incident", but stopped short of tendering an apology to either the national carrier or to the staffer concerned.

"Ravindra Gaikwad is and will continue to be a risk to flight safety and flight operations and to Cabin Crew safety on board, and hence Government must think long and hard about letting him back on," the letter added.

The association said it would be a "crying shame" if he is let off "without even a rap on the knuckles".

"For either the ministry or the Parliament to allow such a person to get away without even a rap on the knuckles or even forcing an apology to all Air- Indians and indeed all Indians, would be a crying shame.”

"It would also crush the morale of all employees and indeed all fair-minded Indians. We do not wish to be flying such a person," the association wrote in the letter.