Govt asks private airlines to lift flying ban on Gaikwad

The Civil Aviation Ministry is learnt to have asked private airlines, which have barred Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from flying after he assaulted an Air India employee, to revoke the ban.

Air India today lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad following an order from the Civil Aviation Ministry, a day after the Osmanabad MP expressed "regret" over the "unfortunate incident" on March 23.

On March 24, a day after the incident at the Delhi airport, Air India had barred Gaikwad from flying with it.

Following suit, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had also imposed a ban on him. Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo are part of the grouping.

Sources said the Ministry has asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.
However, there has been no official word from any FIA member on the issue.

A senior official at an FIA member airline said it has been agreed that police investigation would continue and the MP would not engage in any such unruly conduct in the future.

When FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, two non- member carriers -- Vistara and AirAsia -- had said they were with the industry on the issue.

When contacted, full service carrier Vistara's spokesperson said, "We are reviewing the series of events, related to this case, that took place recently. We have not taken a decision as yet".

No-frills carrier AirAsia India's spokesperson said its stand on the ban remains the same, adding that it has not heard anything from the FIA so far on the matter.