NEW DELHI: After he missed an important appointment in Hyderabad as his Air India flight from here failed to take off on time because the pilot was apparently caught in traffic, Union minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday took to Twitter to vent his ire on the national carrier, leading it to order a probe.
Naidu, who attended the swearing-in of newly elected Rajya Sabha members in Parliament at 11 am, hurried to the airport to catch the 1.15 pm flight but had to return home livid, after waiting for over an hour.
“I had to travel to Hyderabad by Air India AI544 which is to depart at 1315 Hrs... was told on time.. reached airport by 1230 Hrs. Was informed at 1315hrs that flight was delayed as d pilot had not yet come. Waited up to 1345 Hrs, boarding didn’t start.returned 2 home. 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,” Naidu tweeted.
The airline soon swung into action and discovered that the pilot had reported late as he was caught in traffic.
“But we have ordered an enquiry into the incident and will fix responsibility accordingly,” said an Air India spokesperson. Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani will monitor the probe.
There have been many instances when Air India flights being delayed either because of VIP pressure or technical glitches.
According to the latest figures available with the Director General of Civil Aviation, the on-time performance of the state-run airline was the lowest of all the scheduled carriers in the country in May.
Only 74.3 per cent of the flights of the national carrier arrived and departed on time in the month at metro airports, compared with the 90.2 per cent on-time performance by AirAsia, 85.1 per cent by Vistara, 83.1 per cent by IndiGo and 82.3 per cent by Jet Airways.