Members of Parliament have become extra cautious after more incidents of seat ruckus on flights have surfaced, the most notorious being Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Gaikwad assaulting an Air India staffer.
On May 8, Bihar MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of MP Pappu Yadav, also famous for riding Harley Davidson to Parliament, was forced to change her seat by Air Vistara after the chief air hostess told her she had the authority to shift her.
The MP shifted to another seat but later complained to the Lok Sabha speaker and ministry of civil aviation about the air hostess’ “rude” behaviour.
“I was coming from Bagdogra to Delhi on May 8 and was allotted seat number 1F in business class. As I boarded, another passenger was sitting on my seat and before I could request them, the air hostess comes to me and asked me to sit at seat 2D. I objected to this, to which she said I am the supervisor and have all the right to shift your seat. She was very rude…” Ranjan told HT over phone.
The airline has apologised.
“The MP had requested and was assigned seat 1F in business class, but prior to her boarding, another customer had taken that seat… the crew should have, instead, re-seated the other customer as per standard process, and seated the MP in her assigned seat. We have apologised for this lapse,” said a Vistara spokesperson.
Source: HindustanTimes