The Hindu Business Line : Eviction of MP from plane

The MP in question is reported to have said, “if this is the kind of treatment a Parliament member has to face, what would be the experience of the common man,” and he barged into the cockpit and called the pilot “a glorified driver”.

First, an MP would do well to know what a common man goes through. He does not get escorted to the aircraft nor can he wait in the VIP lounge until all the passengers are on board and sweating it out in an aircraft that may not have proper air-conditioning. A common man has to check in by himself and not get a secretary to collect the boarding pass for him. Other than election time, the MP hardly knows, nor does he care for, the common man.

The enquiry will be an eyewash as the ground staff do not have the courage to stand up and say that these so-called ‘VIPs’ flouted all rules and regulations. What the captain did is absolutely correct. The Operations Manual clearly states “the authority of the captain is irrespective of the rank of the passenger”, particularly when there is a safety and security infringement.

In the 1980s, I was the captain of a flight for which a then Union Minister and his family had checked in through his PA. They had not even reached the terminal building when the scheduled departure time was approaching. I asked the duty manager to offload the minister and his family and took on four staff members who were waiting to travel on a sub-load ticket.

There have been instances when some of us have refused to accept an aircraft when union ministers arrived without the proper security screening. It would be a service to the travelling public if every pilot and ground staff treated all these MPs and ministers just like they treat the “common man”, as this MP referred to the fare-paying passenger.

Capt. A. Ranganathan e-mail