Air India on Thursday announced that it had suspended three employees and issued a warning to the captain for arriving late for a flight that was delayed by one and a half hours on Wednesday. The flight also had minister for civil aviation P Ashok Gajapat Raju as one of the passengers.
As per reports, the Air India flight AI459 from Delhi to Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh with over 100 passengers, including minister of civil aviation P Ashok Gajapat Raju, was delayed by 90 minutes after four staff members, including the pilot were delayed in arriving to Delhi airport.
According to Air India spokesperson GP Rao, the passengers protested and questioned the minister over the delay. “The Minister then asked Air India CMD Pradeep Kharola for the reason behind the delay,” Rao added.
The three staff members have been suspended, while the captain, who arrived 15 minutes late, was issued a warning, a spokesperson for the national carrier informed the media.
According to media reports, poor visibility also played a role in delaying the flight. The airline’s operational team then decided to wait for the weather to improve, but failed to inform the ground staff that had already begun the boarding procedure for passengers.
The flight was delayed even more when the pilot was reportedly stopped at the security check over a problem with his airport pass, according to an NDTV report.
Interestingly, Kharola, a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, took charge as Air India's Chairman and Managing Director on Monday. He is helming the airline at a time the government has started the process for its strategic disinvestment. The delay in flight has not been the ideal start to the new job.
Battling multiple headwinds, the disinvestment-bound airline has been working on ways to reduce its debt, including by way of selling non-core assets and expanding operations.
The source said the airline has received Rs 1,500 crore loan from Bank of India after the tender for the amount was floated last month in order to meet "urgent" working capital needs.
A tender was issued by the carrier on October 18 in which it had sought government guarantee-backed short-term loans totalling up to Rs 1,500 crore to meet "its urgent working capital requirements".
Prior to that, the airline had borrowed around Rs 3,250 crore as short tenure loans from two lenders -- IndusInd Bank and Punjab National Bank, sources had said. This loan too was for meeting urgent working capital needs and the tender was floated in September.
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