Two recent incidents of VVIPs delaying Air India flights point to a deeper malaise that affects Indian society — the readiness of the system to buckle under VIP pressure.

Take the case of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and party travelling to New York. Normally, a passenger may not be issued a boarding card till the staff are satisfied that the individual is travelling with valid documents. In this case, the person is not checked in and check-in baggage not accepted. In this instance, the delegation delayed the flight instead of asking the official without the proper documents to take another flight.

Air India’s excuse is it would have taken longer to off-load the bags than to rush someone to the official’s house to get the correct travel documents. But why did it not follow protocol? Because the airline is surviving on money that the exchequer is giving it, and Mumbai is one of its main operating bases. How could any staff member afford to antagonise the State’s top bosses?

The second incident again shows that well laid-down procedures were given the go-by. Globally, it is not uncommon for airlines to request passengers who have been given a boarding pass to volunteer to take a later flight to make room for another passenger urgently needing to travel. In such circumstances, the passenger who yields place is compensated financially and provided hotel accommodation. But according to media reports from Leh, boarding cards were taken back without any mention of compensation for the passengers offloaded to accommodate Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh.

The only gumption displayed was by those who brought these incidents to light. Netas need to step back for a minute and see what their actions are doing — to the airline, to passengers and to themselves.

Deputy Editor

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