Air India moots hefty fine for delaying flight

​New Delhi: With the dust finally settling on its feud with Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, Air India has proposed new measures to deal with unruly passengers. These measures include legal options and fines.

Those delaying the flight by one hour would have to cough up a fine of Rs 5 lakh, while those late by two hours face a fine of Rs 10 lakh. Anything beyond that and the defaulter will have to shell out Rs 15 lakh.

The latest rules come after three high-profile cases involving MPs — Sena MP Gaikwad, Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen and YSR Congress MP Mithun Reddy. The Air India has also directed its employees not to interact with media. Besides this, the staff will also be trained to handle unruly passengers. In case of any loss to the property, the damages will also be assessed.

While Reddy was arrested in January last year for allegedly assaulting an Air India employee at Tirupati airport, Gaikwad was ‘grounded’ by the national carrier and other private airlines last month for hitting a senior staffer with slippers onboard a flight. Gaikwad was reportedly angry at being denied a business class seat despite purchasing the ticket for one.

Soon after the Gaikwad episode, Trinamool Congress’s Dola Sen entered into an argument with the crew of a Delhi-Kolkata Air India flight for asking her elderly mother to vacate the seat next to the emergency exit.