Glory, or rather the lack of it in the condescending confines of glorified, and gumption, an unexpected dose from unexpected quarters, came into sharp focus at Calicut airport on April 7 when, following a heated altercation, Rajya Sabha MP Abdul Wahab was offloaded from an Air India aircraft under instructions of the Pilot-in-Command, Captain Rajat Rana. Unprecedented and unusual in many aspects, the incident has triggered a multi-faceted complexity. Adding a touch of the bizarre to the sensational, an employee of a state-owned—and not a private airline—dared to act against a powerful political entity in the Government. Not an experience Air India’s new CMD can hope to cherish within a week of assuming charge.

Events leading up to the flashpoint were nothing out of the ordinary. The Air India flight from Bahrain arrived in Calicut 20 minutes behind time and thereafter, departure for Cochin was held up for Wahab, who, escorted by the Duty Airport Manager, boarded the aircraft few minutes late. Worked up over the delay, Captain Rana reportedly started berating the Duty Airport Manager when Wahab allegedly entered the cockpit to intervene on behalf of the latter. The MP is accused of dubbing the Captain a glorified driver, provoking the pilot to stubbornly refuse to fly the aircraft with the MP onboard. Evidently, what seems to have triggered the Captain to throw the rule book at the VIP was the derogatory remark and not really the security implications of unauthorised entry into the cockpit.

Fortunately, Wahab chose not to escalate matters and disembarked. One with lesser wisdom or humility could have adopted a confrontational approach, possibly demanding immediate intervention by the CMD Air India, the DGCA, Minister of Civil Aviation or even the Prime Minister. Opting to instead withdraw, the minister displayed exemplary wisdom, maturity, humility and grace even if it is construed by some as acceptance of guilt. A wealthy Keralite NRI entrepreneur in the Gulf, Wahab has been a member of the Rajya Sabha since 2004. Apart from controlling a vast business empire covering real estate, hospitality and shipping, he enjoys good reputation as a philanthropist and a thorough gentleman.