AirAsia suspends officer who didn't wait for Karnataka governor

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Thaawar Chand Gehlot could board it in Bengaluru, the airline's station manager at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) was suspended for a month. As per a ToI report, two more airline staffers are expected to be suspended along with Zico Soares, due to the «lapse» that occurred on Thursday, just before a scheduled meeting of AirAsia officials in the governor's office on Monday. Confirming the suspension, the sources told ToI that Zico Soares was suspended on Saturday, charged with not waiting for the VIP and granting clearance for the AirAsia (now AIX Connect) plane to take off with regular passengers.

Raj Bhavan maintained that the governor arrived on time, but missed the flight due to the airline's ground staff's «lapses.» Governor Gehlot had to take another flight to Hyderabad 50 minutes later. According to the sources, Gehlot was supposed to board flight I5972 at 2.05pm. «Awaiting the governor's arrival, two of his staff members had already reached with his bags.

However, he reached the VIP gate only at 2.07pm and was heading towards the flight on the tarmac in his official car,» stated a senior official. By that time, the flight had already departed, packed with passengers, and the doors closed and ladders removed. In the upcoming meeting on Monday, senior airline officials will explain to Gehlot or his team the circumstances that led to him missing the flight, as well as the suspension actions taken, as per the sources.