Air India Express has grounded a senior pilot after he allegedly assaulted a SpiceJet passenger at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport Terminal 1 on Friday. The airline has acknowledged the incident, and the employee was removed from duty after an inquiry.
Passenger Ankit Dewan said that the incident occurred when he was travelling with his family, including a four-month-old baby in a stroller and his seven-year-old daughter. Dewan said that airport staff directed his family to use the staff security check line as they were travelling with a baby in a stroller.
Dewan, in a post on X, said, “The staff was cutting the queue ahead of me. On calling them out, Capt. Virender, who himself was doing the same thing, asked me if I was anpadh (uneducated), and couldn’t read the signs that said this entry was for staff."
A verbal spat followed, and the Air India Express pilot allegedly physically assaulted him, leaving him bloody. “Not able to exercise restraint, the AIX [Air India Express] pilot proceeded to physically assault me, leaving me bloody. The blood in the photograph on his shirt is also mine," he said.
Dewan had posted a photograph of the pilot along with his name, Captain Virender Sejwal, who has now been removed from his duty.
Air India Express issued a statement saying that it “unequivocally condemns such behaviour."
“The employee concerned has been removed from official duties with immediate effect, pending investigation. Appropriate disciplinary action will be initiated based on the findings of the inquiry," the airline said.
The airline also said that the pilot was travelling as a passenger on another airline and was involved in an altercation with a fellow passenger.
Dewan said that he had to see a doctor on reaching his destination and that his “seven-year-old daughter, who saw her father get assaulted brutally, is still traumatised and scared.”