Sena MP Gaekwad, who hit AI staff with sandal, dares police to arrest him ; carriers may ban him from flying

"I dare the Delhi police to arrest me...I will not apologize, he (Air India manager) must come to me and apologize," NDTV quoted  Gaikwad as saying.

Air India has filed police cases against him

The MP  said, "a 60-year-old man must know how to behave", while suggesting that his party will stand by him.

Gaikwad said Air India must be investigated for ill-treating him for which, he claimed, he had to take off his sandal and hit an elderly manager for Air India 25 times.

According to The Times of India,  The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) - an umbrella organisation representing IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir - is planning to bar the MP from flying in their planes.

A decision to this effect may shortly be taken as a  group of airlines are on Friday  discussing whether to ban  Gaikwad.

Meanwhile,  AI's no-nonsense chairman Ashwani Lohani late on Thursday night said in a Facebook post: "One MP assaulted an Air Indian at Delhi just because the aircraft did not have executive class. The airline in response filed 2 FIRs in the local police station, one for assault and the second for forcibly occupying and detaining the aircraft for 40 min. Last year, there was a similar incident at Tirupati and it too was taken up in all seriousness. We would not permit anyone to misbehave with Air Indians on duty and would go all the way to ensure that justice is done."

Gaikwad refused to disembark from the plane for nearly 45 minutes after he landed in Delhi from Pune on Thursday, demanding some high up of the airline must come to explain him why was he not provided the facility of travelling in business class which he is entitled to get.
 
An Air India manager - Shiv Kumar - boarded the plane to persuade the MP to exit the plane. He was then hit repeatedly.