Enraged by a flight delay reportedly due to the pilot’s road traffic woes in the national capital, one of the powerful Ministers in the Union cabinet M.Venkaiah Naidu blasted Air India through twitter handle on Tuesday. Embarrassed by the rebuke in public, AI ordered an inquiry to fix the guilty.
The Minister reached the airport in New Delhi around 12.30 pm to catch a flight to Hyderabad at around 1.15 pm. Officials informed him that flight would be delayed as they were waiting for the arrival of the pilot. He waited for half an hour and went home disappointed. The flight left at 2.30 pm without the VVIP passenger.
Venkaiah’s first tweet at 3.35 pm is as follows:
“was informed at 13:15hrs that flight was delayed as d pilot had not yet come. Waited up to 1345 Hrs, boarding didn’t start. returned 2 home.”
Within a minute, he came up with another stinker demanding an explanation from Air India.
It reads: “Air India should explain how such things are happening. Transparency and accountability are the need of the hour.” Within a few seconds, he sent off another, saying: “Hope Air India understands that we are in the age of competition. Missed an important appointment.”
In its response, Air India said: “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused due to flight delay. The pilot was stuck in traffic jam.”
According to news reports, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju asked the airline to investigate the issue and take action. Air India, which is consuming a huge portion of public money, is facing flak for its mismanagement that includes a serious lapse in running flights on time. Pitted against better-managed private airlines, AI should pull up its socks without further delay.
