As Air India mulls no-fly list, unapologetic Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad dares airline to ban him

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, Ravindra Gaikwad, in the news for slapping an Air India employee with his slippers, may be permanently barred from flying on the country's national carrier.

The airline is mulling establishing a no-fly list of passengers with an history of bad behaviour while flying on Air India.

The proposal to set up the list has reached the chairman and managing director of Air India, Ashwani Lohani, and it is likely to be implemented soon.

Once implemented, Gaikwad, who has remained defiant about the incident while admitting to assaulting the AI employee, would be on the list.

Gaikwad, in an interview with India Today, remained unapologetic about the incident, saying he is not in the wrong. "I do not regret (beating up the employee) and I will not apologise," Gaikwad said.

He went on to dare Air India to blacklist from flying on the airline, adding that if AI employees misbehaved with him again in the future, he will repeat his actions. 

The Shiv Sena, meanwhile, has asked Gaikwad to explain his actions.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The incident took place Thursday at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport on Air India flight AI 852 after it reached the national capital from Pune.

Gaikwad got into an argument with the flight's staff over not being given a business class seat, despite having a ticket for the same.

The MP refused to leave the aircraft, which was on the tarmac and which had to leave for Goa, until senior airline officials met him.

Finally, after intervention from the ground staff, Gaikwad agreed to deboard the plane. He, however, got into an argument 61-year-old Surendra Kundu, an Air India customer services officer, at the arrival gate.

On being told by Kundu that Gaikwad, being an elected representative, should not behave in this manner, the MP got agitated and started slapping Kundu with his slippers.

Later in the day, when questioned by the media, the unrepentant Gaikwad boasted about how he knows how to 'fix' people's ego and said that he had hit Kundu not once, but "25 times".