J Scindia’s “Arm-Chair Critic” Jibe At Shashi Tharoor Over Flight Delay Row

Not just passengers, but the heat caused by rampant flight delays has now spilled onto political circles too. Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today hit out at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who shared a series of news reports of flight delays and mishaps at airports across the country.

Calling Mr Tharoor an arm-chair critic, the Aviation Minister said that sharing articles does not count as ‘research’ and that Congress lacks the depth to tackle such technical sectors.

“It is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”. Here are some actual facts for arm-chair critic Shashi Tharoor and the Cong IT Cell that might help tackle their lack of depth in understanding of technical sectors like civil aviation,” Mr Scinida said in a post on X.

In the last week, flight delays have been rampant across India due to dense fog across North India and congestion at the Mumbai airport. Bollywood celebrities and several other social media users have also reported mistreatment by airline staff.

A flier was arrested for assaulting the aircraft’s pilot while he was announcing delays. A video of the incident, which went viral, shows the passenger abruptly running up from the last row and the flight’s captain.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today questioned the government and airlines’ preparedness to land planes during such adverse weather conditions. He said that flight delays of up to 12 hours, frustrated passengers earing on the tarmac point to the “sorry state of affairs of India’s aviation sector”.

Mr Scindia rebutted all the points made by the Congress MP, highlighting all the efforts being made to ensure smooth operations. he said that the case where passengers were forced to eat meals on the tarmac was unacceptable.

“The treatment meted out to the passengers in the instant case was unacceptable, and we have acted immediately in the form of a show cause notice to the concerned operators. Further, SOPs for better communication to passengers were also issued. Implementation is being monitored thrice daily,” he said.

“Corrective action is underway as we speak. Rest assured that any laxity in this regard will be meted with zero tolerance,” the BJP leader added.

Mr Scindia has announced a six-point action plan to combat fog-induced disruptions to domestic and international commercial flight operations. “‘War rooms’ will be set up by airports and airline operators at six metro airports to address any issues with regard to passenger inconvenience with immediacy,” Mr Scindia said, “Sufficient CISF (Central Industrial Security Force, which handles security at airports) manpower will be ensured round-the-clock.”

Mr Scindia also said Runway 29L at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport had been made CAT III operational, allowing it to handle take-offs and departures even during dense fog scenarios.