Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad books AI ticket, airline cancels it again

Hardening its stand further against Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, Air India (AI) on Tuesday cancelled two tickets booked by him on Delhi-bound flights,days after domestic carriers barred him from flying in their aircraft for assaulting an AI staffer.

Gaikwad booked a seat on flight AI 806 from Mumbai to Delhi for Wednesday through his staff which was promptly cancelled by the airline. This was followed by another attempt to book a seat on AI 551 from Hyderabad to Delhi, again for Wednesday, which was also cancelled by the airline.

Both the bookings were made on open tickets which were issued to Gaikwad, who has been declared persona non grata by domestic airlines, before the ban was imposed on him, a AI source said.

The airline is now ascertaining how many open tickets and frequent flyer tickets have been issued to the MP from Osmanabad in Maharashtra so that those could be cancelled too, the source said.

Earlier, a private TV news channel said the MP had booked a berth on the Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani for Tuesday. The channel also showed the reservation chart pasted on coach A 3 of the train parked at Mumbai Central Railway Station which had his name. However, Gaikwad did not turn up, triggering speculation he could board the train at some other station on way to the national capital.

The Shiv Sena MP has been barred by all major domestic airlines for assaulting an elderly duty manager of the national carrier last Thursday in an unprecedented step in Indian aviation history. Unrepentent, Gaikwad brazened it out and was seen on national TV for two days boasting about the way he assaulted the Air India employee. —- PTI