Pilot fails to turn up, Venkaiah Naidu misses meet

Furious at having to miss an “important” appointment after the pilot of an Air India flight to Hyderabad did not turn up, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday took to social media platform Twitter to slam the national carrier, following which civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju ordered an enquiry into the incident after terming “service disruptions” as “unacceptable”.

“Air India should explain how such things are happening. Transparency and accountability are the need of the hour,” Mr Naidu tweeted. “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,” the minister said in another tweet. “(I)was informed at 1315 hrs that flight was delayed as the pilot had not yet come. Waited up to 1345 Hrs, boarding didn’t start. Returned home,” he said in a series of tweets. “Hope Air India understands that we are in the age of competition. Missed an important appointment,” he added. Accor-ding to news agency reports, Mr Naidu was going to Hyderabad to attend a meeting on the “Swachchh Bharat” campaign.

Mr Raju then tweeted, “Service disruptions are unacceptable and have to be eliminated.”