Airline fined after making passengers wait for VIP

Tatarstan Airlines has been fined for violating passengers' rights.

The incident took place last week when passengers were delayed by nearly an hour after their plane was kept on the runway waiting for Tartastan's commercial director, who was running late.

The airline apologized for the delay and promised to compensate passengers with discounts.

It denies, however, that the crew was waiting for the VIP. Instead, the firm blames the delay on necessary documents not being delivered on time.

Whatever the true cause, the delay has cost Tartarstan Airlines 50,000 rubles ($1,500).

This is not the first such scandal concerning a Russian carrier. Back in June 2011, Aeroflot was trying to hush up an incident of the same nature involving the head of a Siberian region.

The incident provoked widespread public outrage, especially after someone leaked the recording of the conversation between the plane’s captain, who refused to wait for the big boss, and the traffic controller, who persuaded the pilot to stay calm.

The governor who caused the scandal insisted that the airline had to investigate how the recording leaked to the press, as it was “about state order in general.”

He stressed that he used the passenger flight to save the budget money and that he was late for the plane because of “signing an important law on increasing minimum wages for public-sector workers.”