Gaurav Taneja is a IIT-Kharagpur graduate
and a former IndiGo captain.
He joined AirAsia India in May 2019 as a pilot on its Airbus A320 fleet.
He is also a fitness blogger and a digital influencer with over 200,000 twitter followers.
On 15th June 2020, in his tweets, Gaurav Taneja said that,
AirAsia broke several safety rules which put the lives of the passengers in danger.
He posted a video message on Twitter. Let me tell you what he said.
He said, "On 22nd – 23rd March, I delayed my flight for about 40 minutes
as safety-related guidelines were not being followed by the airline.
Even after giving feedback, they did not follow up.
That is why he delayed the flight.
On 24th March, Taneja decided not to fly
as the airline was still not following some safety measures.
On 4th May Taneja was given a show-cause notice
as the company suffered losses because of his actions.
AirAsia India management informed Taneja
that 9th June would be his weekly off-day.
Taneja then took a sick leave on 7th June.
But the management asked him to come to work, as he had already taken a sick leave
Taneja refused.
The chief of flight safety in an email said,
"We all report sick and fatigued frequently. Even you can come."
He suggested Taneja to undergo lifestyle, counselling and medical check.
Taneja also said that the DGCA, the chief of Indian aviation,
had issued COVID safety guidelines, that had to be followed by airlines.
However, Air Asia, ignored these.
Taneja has been suspended without a reason.
According to him, it could be because the airlines was unhappy with him for pointing out safety errors.
He did not give details about the accusations against AirAsia
but the tweets started a #BoycottAirAsiaIndia trend on Twitter with about 26,000 tweets on 15th May afternoon.
DGCA in a statement said, "DGCA has taken note of the concerns and will investigate AirAsia.
Strict action will be taken accordingly.