Shiv Sena MP, Ravindra Gaikwad, despite the Air India and private carriers lifting his flight ban, yesterday, boarded a train from Mumbai to Delhi, to attend the Parliament Session.

Gaikwad was to take a Mumbai to Delhi flight, incidentally, the same flight, on which he assaulted an Air India officer, says reports.

However, the Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad, Maharashtra, took the Mumbai Rajdhani, on yesterday evening and reached Delhi, today at 9:30 am. Gaikwad’s brother-in-law, confirmed that the MP, would get down before New Delhi station, today, to avoid the media.

A close aide of Gaikwad quoted the report saying, “At that time he already had a confirmed train ticket and hence he traveled by train. This time, there were four to five people traveling with him and hence he chose to take the train again. He is not trying to avoid flying after whatever happened. Everything related to that incident is over and has been fixed. There is no point discussing it again and again.”

Earlier, Gaikwad was supposed to travel by AI 852, a Pune-Delhi flight, which takes off from Pune at 7:40 am, and lands at Indira Gandhi International airport at 9.50 am. This is the same flight, Gaikwad boarded last month, when he lost his temper and hit an Air India staffer 25 times with his slipper, as the MP insisted on traveling business class on an all-economy flight.

According to Air India sources, its management, followed by an informal instruction from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been asked to fly aircraft, with a business class provision in this route.

The Federation of Airlines, a group of major private carriers, also revoked its ban on the MP, on Saturday, a day after Air India lifted the ban. On Friday, Gaikwad wrote to the Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing “regret” for the incident. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, following, his Parliament statement, ordered the Air India, to lift its flight ban on Gaikwad.

Air India, while lifting the ban on Friday, had emphasized that, “it is committed to ensure, its employees are not assaulted or misbehaved.” It also stated that, the National Carrier would also take stringent action, to preserve the dignity of its employees.

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad Likely To Fly Again

By Supraja