Who is Gaurav Taneja, the pilot who sued AirAsia after getting suspended and was once arrested on his birthday?

Gaurav Taneja's personal life has become a matter of public debate. Is divorce on the cards with his wife Ritu Rathee? If yes, is his extra-marital affair the reason? While his wife has broken her silence without revealing the reason why they are separated, she objected to audiences putting all the blame on her husband and requested privacy. Amid all this, here's all you need to know about Gaurav Teneja, a former AirAsia pilot turned YouTuber who now earns more than the CEO of his ex-company.

Who is Gaurav Taneja?

Qualifications

The 38-year-old did electrical engineering at IIT Kharagpur in 2008. He is also a certified nutritionist and professional bodybuilder. Apart from this, he also pursued law from Delhi University after his legal battle with AirAsia. He passed the first semester of LLB but had to quit it due to "attendance issue".

Personal Life

He is married to Ritu Rathee Taneja, a Captain, and has two daughters with her - Kiara and Pihu.

His legal battle with AirAisa

Gaurav Taneja first made waves in 2020 when he was fired by AirAsia, where he was working as a pilot. Reason? He tweeted about Taneja's violations of safety regulations by the company. First, he was suspended and then fired. Taneja had good followers on social media by then. He was known as Flying Beast, his social media handle name, which had more than 7 million followers at that time. His post took the social media by storm. Here are the three things he pointed out:

1. Fear of taking sick leave - he said that the company discouraged pilots to take sick leaves and gave lower bonuses to those who availed them. He said that any other job would permit a sick person to work but a pilot working when they are mentally or physically not fit would mean risking the lives of 200 people.
2. SOPs not being followed - He also highlighted that the airline was not strictly adhering to the SoPs that were issued by the government on flying amidst COVID-19 times.
3. Flap 3 or Flap 4 - Flaps are located on the trailing edge of the wing which help in controlling the speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight, thus reducing the landing and take-off distance. Flap 3 is commonly used by most airlines as it is fuel efficient and helps saving about 8kg of fuel. As per Taneja, AirAsia had mandated the usage of Flap 3 for 98 percent of landings. Taneja, however, used it only for 70 percent of his landings.

As he pointed out these safety violations, he was suspended and later terminated for "standing up for the safe operations of an aircraft and its passengers."

Did he win the legal battle?

Following his claims, a probe was initiated and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a statutory body of the Government of India to regulate civil aviation in India, intervened and suspended two senior executives at AirAsia India for three months.

ĄĒ Gaurav Taneja (@flyingbeast320) August 10, 2020

He now earns more than the CEO of AirAsia

After his termination, Gaurav Taneja became a full-time YouTuber and would run both his channels - FitMuscle TV and Flying Beast extensively. In an interview with Youtuber Raj Shammani, he revealed that he earned more than the CEO of AirAisa who expelled him from his job.

Gaurav Taneja's arrest

In 2022, the YouTuber was arrested on his birthday after he asked his fans to gather at the Sector 51 Metro Station in Noida. He of course didn't expect a huge crowd would gather at the metro station. His wife Ritu Rathee also posted to her fans that they have booked an entire metro for the fan meet up on her husband's birthday. As a result of which, Taneja was booked under IPC sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) for violating the prohibitory orders imposed in Noida given the rising Covid-19 cases at that time. He was arrested for disobeying the orders and an FIR was filed against him in the matter.

Also Read: Did Gaurav Taneja share his own 'extra-marital affair' story in this viral video? Fans think so

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