India-based Airlines - Small Pilots- BIG EGO'S

Here's a news i just read about an INDIGO pilot..

"AHMEDABAD/HYDERABAD: It was a day-long ordeal for a Hyderabad-based entrepreneur at Ahmedabad airport after he was deplaned by an airline. Praveen Pavuluri was offloaded from Ahmedabad-Hyderabad Indigo flight last Friday for allegedly speaking rudely to the pilot.

Pavuluri, who was on a business visit to the city, was offloaded after a minor altercation that took place on the aerobridge. According to Pavuluri the disagreement took place when the pilot wanted him to make way. "While I was waiting in the queue on the aerobridge with other passengers, an airline staffer asked to me make way for the pilot. I refused and requested him to wait till the few passengers before me had boarded. This clearly did not go down well with the staffers. They (the ground staff and pilot) kept insisting that I move, rather rudely. That is when I lost my cool and asked them to get lost," Pavuluri told TOI.

However, minutes later, after Pavuluri took his seat, deplaning orders were conveyed to him by the security officer of the airlines. "As the pilot had announced that the flight would not take off unless I disembarked from the aircraft, I volunteered to meet him and apologize, but he refused to listen," Pavuluri said.

Following the incident, CISF officials were called who took away Pavuluri to the airport terminal manager's office. Spending three hours at the manager's office asking the airline officials to give in writing the reason to deplane him, he gave up and checked-in at a nearby hotel and took a plane to Hyderabad on Saturday.

He said that experience was embarrassing as he was escorted by several security men to the airport manager's office. Acting director of Ahmedabad airport, SK Swami said, "The incident was brought to notice of the terminal manager by CISF officials. Airline officials told us that the decision to deplane was taken by the pilot."

Indigo airlines maintained that the passenger was at fault and was de-boarded 'by the Captain-in-command due to his misbehavior and disrespect to our crew on board'. "Pavuluri resisted the captain's entry into the flight, and demanded that he too should fall in line with other passengers despite the crew's request to allow the captain to board the flight. Keeping in mind the inconvenience of other passengers, the captain on board decided to de-board him, and reported the matter to the CISF authorities," said Aditya Ghosh, president, Indigo airlines.

As per the rule book of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) a pilot can only issue such strict orders when he has any intelligence input about a passenger or feels that his presence can interfere with the safety of the aircraft."..

Any comments oh how the Pilot's of our Indian Airlines' think they are god..!!!

while i see no harm in letting the pilot board first, if this report is indeed true then it is definite abuse of power on behalf of the pilot....

while i see no harm in letting the pilot board first,

Agreed.. but pilot's do tend to behave as if they own the darn place.. yesterday's experience at Jet Airways counter.. I was in the Premier queue.. there was one passenger ahead of me, getting his boarding pass.. on comes 3 pilots, with luggage an al, and swiftly cut infront of me, to get seats on whichever sector they were flying.. No request, no nothing.. just cut me and walked to the counter as if it is his birth right..

if this report is indeed true then it is definite abuse of power on behalf of the pilot....

Absolutely.. Indigo should be ashamed.. there is no proof that a passenger not letting the pilot pass through is an inconvenience to other passengers.. Absolute misuse of power by the pilot.. Indigo should be ashamed..

Simz

Agreed.. but pilot's do tend to behave as if they own the darn place..

Well, they do own the place - the pilot in command is the dictator of the plane which they are operating...

If it was me.. i wouldnt have deboarded.. but thats just me..

Well, they do own the place - the pilot in command is the dictator of the plane which they are operating...
+100.

It's not a question of whether the pilot cut through the queue or not.. It's a question of showing him some respect and dignity. If there was a politician or god man, passengers would gladly move aside without cribbing.

In India, it hurts our ego to respect a working professional who we consider is socially below our status.. Terrible.

EDIT : The thread title speaks for itself. NO pilot in the world is "small". They are responsible for thousands of lives every month.. It's really no joke.

+100.

It's not a question of whether the pilot cut through the queue or not.. It's a question of showing him some respect and dignity. If there was a politician or god man, passengers would gladly move aside without cribbing.

In India, it hurts our ego to respect a working professional who we consider is socially below our status.. Terrible.

I agree u should respect the pilot and the man should hv let the pilot cut through.. But wouldnt hv deboarded whatever the pilot says

I agree u should respect the pilot and the man should hv let the pilot cut through.. But wouldnt hv deboarded whatever the pilot says
When you have CISF guards with armed rifles pointing at your head, you have to de-plane. Even if your Rajnikanth. :D

When you have CISF guards with armed rifles pointing at your head, you have to de-plane. Even if your Rajnikanth. :D

Well Rjnikanth wont.. He will just split the rifle and the bullet in two parts:D

Also if i did deplane, i would sue the pilot and the company for sure

Also if i did deplane, i would sue the pilot and the company for sure

You would lose.

+100.

It's not a question of whether the pilot cut through the queue or not.. It's a question of showing him some respect and dignity. If there was a politician or god man, passengers would gladly move aside without cribbing.

In India, it hurts our ego to respect a working professional who we consider is socially below our status.. Terrible.

EDIT : The thread title speaks for itself. NO pilot in the world is "small". They are responsible for thousands of lives every month.. It's really no joke.

The pilot is indeed responsible for thousands of lives.. but then so is a doctor and so is a train driver.. we don't tend to show that kind of respect to them do we..?????? Most of the people actually look down upon a train driver.. why does a pilot expect special treatment..????

If it was me, I would have sued them...

You would lose.

Y wud u say so??? :confused:

Y wud u say so??? :confused:

Because the airline would be fully within its rights to deny you boarding.

Because the airline would be fully within its rights to deny you boarding.

Really??

I have stood in Indian lines where people behind me attempt to maintain full-body contact with me, partly because of differing concepts of personal space but partly to prevent others cutting in. I have stood in lines in a western polite way with the result that people cut in front of me as though I don't exist. So I can understand the obsessive elbows-out street mentality people get into of "no one pushes past me".

But it is generally a good idea to let the pilot board and prepare for takeoff.

Moreover, these days, it is not smart to mess with a flight attendant, let alone the pilot.

Because the airline would be fully within its rights to deny you boarding.

But they did board him. And then they de-planed him. Which apparently can only be done for specific reasons outlined by DGCA.

I agree.. one should let the pilot and crew board.. but there is a polite way of doing it and there is - u can go F**k yourself way of doing it..

This clearly seems that the Pilot had an ego issue with the passenger and he offloaded him to prove his point.. that can only be done in specific cases.. I think the passenger should sue the pilot and the airlines.. they deserve it.. and IF I am not mistaken, the pilot is supposed to be in the plane BEFORE the passengers arrive and not after..!!

and given the number of news article in recent times about Pilot's arriving drunk for duty, I think the pilots of the indian skies have their heads in the clouds.. they need a washing..

I agree.. one should let the pilot and crew board.. but there is a polite way of doing it and there is - u can go F**k yourself way of doing it..

This clearly seems that the Pilot had an ego issue with the passenger and he offloaded him to prove his point.. that can only be done in specific cases.. I think the passenger should sue the pilot and the airlines.. they deserve it.. and IF I am not mistaken, the pilot is supposed to be in the plane BEFORE the passengers arrive and not after..!!

and given the number of news article in recent times about Pilot's arriving drunk for duty, I think the pilots of the indian skies have their heads in the clouds.. they need a washing..

Perhaps the pilot's inbound flight was late? Just because the pilot isn't in the cockpit on time, that doesn't somehow lead to the assumption that they are drunk...

Perhaps the pilot's inbound flight was late? Just because the pilot isn't in the cockpit on time, that doesn't somehow lead to the assumption that they are drunk...

No No.. plz dont get me wrong.. I am not remotely suggesting that.. but Im sure u have read recent news articles about pilot's reporting drunk for work and then leaving airport when they realised that there is a surprise alcohol testing going on..

All I am saying is that this pilot was wrong in what he did (prima facia evidence from the news article) and so the passenger would we within his right to sue them left right centre..

Because the airline would be fully within its rights to deny you boarding.

not at all....there is no guideline or rule that says that a passenger can be allowed to board & then be deplaned because the pilot did not like the passenger....

Ah - I missed the part about the pax already have being boarded. That is a completely different set of regulations which I am not familiar with.

However, if the person was denied boarding before entering the aircraft, then the airline would be within its rights, as long as the airline paid the compensation due (which it seems 6E did from articles I read).

Ah - I missed the part about the pax already have being boarded. That is a completely different set of regulations which I am not familiar with.

However, if the person was denied boarding before entering the aircraft, then the airline would be within its rights, as long as the airline paid the compensation due (which it seems 6E did from articles I read).

Which articles are you reading my friend.. do share..

Which articles are you reading my friend.. do share..

Whenever something controversial comes out, I read all the major positions on it to see if it is worth putting on my blog.

So I probably read Bloomberg, Reuters, PR Newswire, ToI, The Hindu, etc. Whatever carried the story.

Don't remember which article contained what details, unfortunately :(

I believe flight crew in general shouldn't be blocked from going ahead and preparing the cabin/cockpit for an impending departure, however the decision to eject a passenger who's already boarded smacks of an ego trip and utter disregard for the time of all passengers on board (all that drama would surely have had an effect on the departure time of an airline that places utmost importance on "being on time").

This is only a reflection of the rising self-entitlement among those in the Indian society who perceive themselves to be in elite professions. There have been numerous times I've been cut off in the check-in queue at Indian airports by not only pilots but also their families. In fact, those of you who've visited AirlinePilotFoums discussion threads would know that high social stature and excessive fawning over by the airline's ground staff are considered big perks of being a pilot in India.

I have stood in Indian lines where people behind me attempt to maintain full-body contact with me, partly because of differing concepts of personal space but partly to prevent others cutting in. I have stood in lines in a western polite way with the result that people cut in front of me as though I don't exist. So I can understand the obsessive elbows-out street mentality people get into of "no one pushes past me".

While the upper Indian classes who are highly educated and more worldly aware do not have any real excuse for their boorish behavior in public places, the masses are unfortunately simply attuned to their traditional ways and driven by the daily struggle of not being left behind, so to speak.

9W pilots have an awful rep with even their own staff of having god complexes and are probably among the worst in the business. To be completely honest - some of the best cockpit crew interactions I have had have been with 9W pilots while so have some of the worst. The best on the 77W's during the glory days when the pilots (especially the expats out of BRU) would come by and say hello to F class pax and welcome them onboard.

Honestly, I have found on 9w 737 pilots to be among the worst. Flew SIN-MAA once as the only rev pax in Biz seated in row 2 while 4 9w cockpit crew in uniform had taken over row 4. They were noisy, rude and disruptive. When I was fast asleep I was awoken by loud chatter and polite requests to keep it down were ignored.

Senior ground staff at an unnamed airport recently told me about a hilarious incident where a pilot held up boarding for some silly reason. The ground staff where trying to get him to step aside for a vvip (politician and very close friend of the Goyal family), and this pilot spoke loudly and audibly saying that I don't care who the vip is boarding can not continue till such and such is done. The vvip heard this and promptly called Anita Goyal who made sure the pilot came with his tail between his legs to apologize to her friend prior to take off... talk about poetic justice.

9W pilots have an awful rep with even their own staff of having god complexes and are probably among the worst in the business. To be completely honest - some of the best cockpit crew interactions I have had have been with 9W pilots while so have some of the worst. The best on the 77W's during the glory days when the pilots (especially the expats out of BRU) would come by and say hello to F class pax and welcome them onboard.

Honestly, I have found on 9w 737 pilots to be among the worst. Flew SIN-MAA once as the only rev pax in Biz seated in row 2 while 4 9w cockpit crew in uniform had taken over row 4. They were noisy, rude and disruptive. When I was fast asleep I was awoken by loud chatter and polite requests to keep it down were ignored.

Senior ground staff at an unnamed airport recently told me about a hilarious incident where a pilot held up boarding for some silly reason. The ground staff where trying to get him to step aside for a vvip (politician and very close friend of the Goyal family), and this pilot spoke loudly and audibly saying that I don't care who the vip is boarding can not continue till such and such is done. The vvip heard this and promptly called Anita Goyal who made sure the pilot came with his tail between his legs to apologize to her friend prior to take off... talk about poetic justice.

It's not just Jet where they have bad reps. Kingfisher was just as bad and this included first officers as well....arrogant SOB's who though they were gods gift.

Indian based pilots need their ego's to be brought down a couple of notches. They are not as special as they think they are. Anyone who has £50,000 can get themselves onto an intensive 18-24 months flight training course and have a job lined up. Airmanship skills are not as high as in yesteryear especially with the advancement of technology.

Airmanship skills are not as high as in yesteryear especially with the advancement of technology.

You're so right. On flights nowadays you can expect that the pilot will just plonk the plane down during landing. Its only rarely, and only on AI flights, that the pilot is good enough to really land smoothly

9W pilots have an awful rep with even their own staff of having god complexes and are probably among the worst in the business. To be completely honest - some of the best cockpit crew interactions I have had have been with 9W pilots while so have some of the worst. The best on the 77W's during the glory days when the pilots (especially the expats out of BRU) would come by and say hello to F class pax and welcome them onboard.

Honestly, I have found on 9w 737 pilots to be among the worst. Flew SIN-MAA once as the only rev pax in Biz seated in row 2 while 4 9w cockpit crew in uniform had taken over row 4. They were noisy, rude and disruptive. When I was fast asleep I was awoken by loud chatter and polite requests to keep it down were ignored.Unfortunately they can't land a plane to save their life - if you compare a 77w expat landing versus the 77w desh one - in most cases...but one has to chalk that up to the amount of experience one has had...

(and guess who is peeing all over the single F lav? Hmmm...quite disgusting, when you are the only one in F!)

IT's A332 landings are even worse!

I've never had a rough landing on AI's 77Ws. Sometimes, I don't even notice that we've landed until the lights come on....

I don't fly longhaul on any other Indian carriers, so I have no experience with landings on them...