Air India has dismissed social media claims that its Ahmedabad-Delhi flight AI882 was delayed on Saturday to wait for a Supreme Court judge.
The airline says the flight left five minutes before its scheduled departure and reached Delhi ahead of schedule.
In a post on X on Tuesday, tagged #FactCheck, the Air India Newsroom account called the rumours inaccurate. It asked people to refrain from sharing unverified information and to rely on verified facts.
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What The Viral Post Claimed
The claim was made by a social media page, UP Gram. It said Supreme Court judge Justice Vipul Pancholi was to travel on AI882 and arrived 20 minutes late with his wife, so the flight was held back and took off only after they reached.
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The post said passengers shouted and complained during the flight while airline staff ignored them. It carried an airport photograph with a man circled, presented as the judge.
What The Flight Data Shows
Air India backed its denial with a FlightAware screenshot. According to it, AI882 left Gate 2 at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 3:50 p.m. IST on October 24, five minutes early.
It landed at Terminal 3 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport at 5:19 p.m., 26 minutes ahead of schedule. The total travel time was 1 hour 29 minutes.
Air India's statement does not say whether the judge was on the flight.
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Why Such Claims Spread
Allegations that flights were held up for VIPs are not new. In 2015, the civil aviation ministry asked Air India for reports after claims that flights had been delayed for Union minister Kiren Rijiju and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Rijiju said that flight was not delayed, claiming its departure had been preponed.
Justice Pancholi is a sitting judge of the Supreme Court and earlier served as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.
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