22 July : America’s Continental Airlines, which had said on Tuesday that there could be no exception to security frisking of its passengers, apologized to former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday following a political uproar in the country.
In its apology to Kalam for frisking him at the international airport in breach of protocol, it said it did not intend to offend the former President or the sentiments of the people of the country.
“We have tendered a formal apology to Dr Kalam and we sincerely hope he will fly with us again,” the airline said in a statement.
The statement comes in the backdrop of the uproar in Parliament on Tuesday over the frisking of the 77-year-old former President before he was to board a Newark-bound flight of the airline on 21st April.
The government had later registered an FIR against the “concerned staff” of the airline.The incident was condemned in Parliament where Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had described the act of frisking Kalam, who is exempted from security checks, as “unpardonable” and assured “corrective action”.The Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered a probe into the incident involving the ground security staff of the airline.
The airline said it is also formally addressing the queries raised in the show cause notice issues by BCAS.