IAS officer sues Air India for compensation

Mumbai: He failed to meet his brother at death bed because of an error committed by Air India (AI) staff. When he brought it to the notice of airline authorities, the erring officials were issued “caution letter”.
Peeved by AI’s insensitivity, principal secretary, revenue, M Rameshkumar moved the State Consumer Redressal Commission, seeking compensation of a substantial amount. His lawyer, Uday Wavikar, argued the case on October 23, and it was admitted by the state commission, which handles cases where the compensation sought is over Rs20 lakh.
Rameshkumar’s brother, Satish, 48 — a Public Works Department (PWD) executive engineer in Trivandrum — died of multiple miloma (bone marrow cancer). He battled with it for two years before his death on October 7, 2007.
“I used to visit him regularly. I had last met him just 10 days before his death. His condition was stable then. But, on October 7 last year, I got a call from my relatives that he was battling for life, and decided to rush back,” said Ramesh kumar.
He reached the domestic airport around 11 am and booked a ticket on the 11:55 am AI flight to Trivandrum. The IAS officer stated in his complaint that he checked in immediately and waited for the boarding call in the departure area.
Around 11:30 am, the monitor flashed the ‘boarding’ sign. “Unfortunately, I went to the ground floor which was not the boarding area. Realising my mistake, I immediately went to the counter at Gate 7, but was told that the flight had left. It was 11:35 am then, 20 minutes before time...,” said Ramesh kumar.
07/11/08 Menaka Rao/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Domestic Nov 2008, Airports Nov 2008, NACIL Nov 2008