Ban on Ravindra Gaikwad lifted, Air India to fly him again

The government on Friday lifted the ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad and asked Air India to fly him again after a gap of 15 days.

The ministry of civil aviation in a statement said Air India has been asked to lift the ban on the MP.

Air India, along with top private airlines who are members of the Federation of Indian Airlines banned the defiant Shiv Sena MP who assaulted a 60-year-old Air India duty manager at IGI airport in New Delhi. Setting an example, in a rare step, the airlines along with Air India banned Gaikwad from immediate effect. Air India cancelled his ticket several times and did not allow the MP from boarding any of its flight after the incident.

The Federation of Indian Airlines is an apex industry body which was formed by the scheduled carriers in India. Top private airlines like Indigo, Jet, SpiceJet and GoAir are the members of the FIA. Later, Vistara, too joined the move to ban the MP.

Ravindra Gaikwad, who was flying on an Air India flight from Pune to Delhi, hit the airline's duty manager Sukumar with his slipper 25 times when the latter urged him to deplane .

"The MP turned violent, broke the duty manager's spectacles, tore his shirt and hit him with slippers several times," an airline source said.

Gaikwad, carrying a business class ticket, insisted on taking the airline's early morning flight AI-852 from Pune to Delhi, which is an all-economy class. This led to an argument with the airline employees in Pune and an assault on the manager by the MP when the aircraft landed in Delhi.