Apology not accepted: Air India once again rejects Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad's booking

Losing His 'Cool', Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad Attacks AI Staffer With Slipper , Leaving from the Parliament on 23march 2017. Express photo by Renuka Puri.

Air India has once again rejected a booking attempt by Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, a day after he expressed regret for slapping an airline staffer last month.

#AirIndia revokes flight ban on #ShivSena MP #RavindraGaikwad with immediate effect.

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— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 7, 2017

Gaikwad's letter on Thursday requested the Union Civil Aviation minister to lift the national carrier's ban on him. However, his efforts to book an Air India flight from Mumbai to Delhi for later this month were once again rejected by the airline.

Here is the copy of the cancelled ticket of the Shiv Sena MP.

Copy of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad's Air India ticket which was cancelled by the Airlines. pic.twitter.com/qdluTZsOHk

— ANI (@ANI_news) April 7, 2017

This is not the first time he has tried to book a ticket with Air India and failed. Over the past fortnight, other carriers had also blocked Gaikwad's attempts to a book tickets.

The original incident took place on March 23 morning after the Air India flight from Pune landed in Delhi at around 10.30 am. Gaikwad refused to get off the plane as he was forced to travel economy despite carrying a business class ticket and did not accept the airline's explanation that there were only economy seats on the flight.

Before issuing a letter on Thursday evening, Gaikwad gave a conditional apology to Parliament but refused to apologise to Air India.

"I am not guilty, I have not done anything wrong," Gaikwad, an MP from Osamanabad in Maharashtra, told the Lok Sabha.

Gaikwad had claimed that he did not thrash anyone and did not create any ruckus inside the aircraft, but had merely given his seat in the business class to a senior citizen. He alleged that the Air India management changed the story.

In reply to his claims, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju said that the safety in the flight was compromised.

Union heavy industries minister Anant Geete then got into an altercation with Gajapathi Raju. Geete, a Shiv Sena MP, charged towards his fellow minister in the Lok Sabha before cabinet colleagues Rajnath Singh and Smiti Irani held him back before he could do any harm.

“We will not allow flights to operate from Mumbai,” Geete had said.

Gajapati Raju will be meeting all the stakeholders to reach an amicable solution to the issue at the earliest, said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.