The engineer was travelling to China to cover for a colleague who was away on leave.
Speaking to the Economic Times, an Air India official said that the man was insisting on getting a seat in business class.
The anonymous official said: `The engineer was offered a seat in the economy class since the business class was full. He objected to it and insisted on getting a seat in the business class. This delayed the flight.`
Another staff member claimed that the engineer`s insistence would have stemmed from the fact that regulations say staff flying out on duty will be given a business-class seat if it is vacant.
The official said: `The rules state that an engineering flying as SOD will get a business class (seat) only if it is vacant.`
Senior officials later boarded the aircraft and forced the employee to take his seat in economy.
A spokesman for the airline said to the Economic Times that Air India has a zero-tolerance policy on staff indiscipline and action would be taken against the man.
Former head of operations at IndiGo and Air India said to the Economic Times: `This is a clear case of poor man management and total lack of regard from all sides.`
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