New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today slammed national carrier Air India after a flight which he was scheduled to take got delayed and led to the minister missing an important appointment in Hyderabad.
In a series of tweets, Naidu claimed that though he reached the airport ahead of the scheduled departure time, the flight got delayed without any prior information.
Naidu said he was at the airport at 12.30 pm to catch the flight set to depart at 1.15 pm, only to be told it had been delayed because the pilot had not yet come.
After waiting for half hour, the Minister returned home. By the time he came back to the airport, the flight had departed.
"I had to travel to Hyderabad by Air India AI544... was told (it was) on time.. reached airport by 1230," Naidu tweeted.
"Was informed at 1315 that flight was delayed as the pilot had not yet come. Waited up to 1345, boarding didn't start. Returned home," he said.
Demanding an explanation for the delay, Naidu said, “Air India should explain how such things are happening. Transparency and accountability are the need of the hour.”
“Hope Air India understands that we are in the age of competition. Missed an important appointment,” he tweeted.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju reacted promptly to this and said that action will be taken on priority.
“Service disruptions are unacceptable and have to be eliminated. Have asked AI to enquire and take action on priority,” Raju tweeted.
MoS Mahesh Sharma informed that Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani will conduct an enquiry into the incident.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience caused due to fly delay. The pilot was stuck in traffic jam. Enquiry has been ordered,” Air India said in a reply to the Minister’s tweet.
The national carrier is facing a sharp fall in its On-Time Performance (OTP) due to reasons like shortage of crew and indiscipline. It is said that Air India’s on-time performance has been the poorest among all airlines in the country.
