Union Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma flew off the handle on a Jet Airways flight today and allegedly manhandled three airline officials, including a woman. The incident occurred on Jet Airways flight 9W-406 which could not take off on time as the runway visibility dropped due to construction work on the main runway. Jet Airways Manager, Customer Relations, Meenal Naik seems to have borne the brunt of Verma’s anger. ‘‘He (Verma) grabbed me by my shoulder and pushed me into the galley while being abusive throughout the incident,’’ says Naik. Others who had to face the ministerial wrath were duty managers Mohan Menon and Zafar Mulla. In fact, going by Naik’s version, Mulla heard this for his efforts to calm Verma: ‘‘Dawood ke aadmi ho. Dawood ka airline hai kya!’’ Verma denied the allegations and said the airline had even apologised to him. ‘‘These allegations are totally false. In fact, the Jet Airways head Naresh Goyal called up more than once from London to apologise to me,’’ he said. Verma, his wife and son along with other VIPs — including Union Minister of State for Sports Vikram Verma, Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia and some Delhi-based members of the Indian cricket squad — landed from Johannesburg this morning by the special Air-India flight. As the flight was delayed, the Delhi-bound passengers missed their connecting Indian Airlines flight which left at 9 a.m. The next in line was the 11-a.m. Jet Airways flight 9W-406. The problem started when the plane aimlessly taxied on the runway and did not take off due to poor visibility. Verma says he understood the problem and arranged for the construction work to be stopped with the help of Mumbai Airport Director Sudhir Kumar so that the plane could take off. ‘‘But they still did not move. And despite us asking them repeatedly, Jet Airways gave no reply. Finally, I asked them to at least give the passengers lunch,’’ says the Labour Minister. The airline officials took immediate note of this and got the passengers back to the terminal. Lunch was served but that too failed to calm a fuming Verma. And even as some VIPs including Scindia boarded the 1-p.m. Indian Airlines flight to Delhi, he chose to stay on. According to Naik, the airline decided to serve lunch once it became clear to them that the aircraft could not take off before 2 p.m. ‘‘When duty manager Menon went to attend to Verma, he ordered him to get the flight going. The minister was informed that the decision to delay the flight was taken after technical considerations. But an incensed Verma began abusing this officer and punched him twice on his chest,’’ she says. The other duty manager Mullah who intervened too got reportedly manhandled by the minister. Verma, in fact, refused to alight for lunch. And when Naik went to pacify him, she was allegedly assaulted. ‘‘He was abusing all of us. But I was shocked when he got physical with me. He pushed me by my shoulder. I told him ‘don’t touch me’, but he was too busy with expletives.’’ The pilots had to lock Naik in the cockpit to save her from further attacks. Meanwhile, Verma got himself and his wife on to a jeep (belonging to Oberoi in-flight caterers) and moved to the Indian Airlines terminal. They boarded the 5-p.m. IA flight while the Jet Airways flight left at 2.50pm. Before departing, Verma said: ‘‘This is the second time I have been treated poorly by this airline. I will never patronise them again.’’ Seven months back, Verma had created a ruckus at the Jet Airways terminal of Mumbai airport after he reached late for his flight to Bhuj. ‘‘The flight had taken off and he was angry that we didn’t delay it for him. A flight had to be specially chartered to take him to and fro,’’ a Jet official said. Jet Airways spokesperson Shivanandan while confirming the delay said he had no knowledge of the alleged manhandling. ‘‘I just know he did not travel with us though he did board our flight initially,’’ he said.
