Ranchi: A specially-abled child was barred from boarding an Indigo flight along with his parents, leading to a furore at Ranchi airport on Saturday.
The incident came to light thanks to an eye-witness account, which went viral on social media.
The airline was forced into damage control mode and issued a statement clarifying its stand.
Abhinandan Mishra, a passenger who was present when the incident took place, wrote a detailed account on Facebook which said that the child had an uncomfortable car ride to the airport and was in great distress at the boarding gate.
His parents brought the situation under control, but at the time of boarding, an IndiGo official warned the family that the child won’t be allowed to board the plane unless he became ‘normal’, the eyewitness wrote.
The airline then announced that the specially-abled child is a risk to other passengers, comparing him with drunk passengers, and hence won’t be allowed to board.
Fellow passengers protested vehemently and asserted they don’t have any objection to the family travelling with them.
Some doctors who were taking the flight wanted the airline staff to call an airport doctor and take a call on the child’s fitness to fly. However, the airline stuck to its decision.
Explaining the turn of events, Indigo regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers.
“The airline made the family comfortable by providing them hotel stay and the family flew next morning to their destination. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or its customers; and over 75k specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month,” a statement from the airline said.
It remains to be seen if DGCA takes action against the airline and its staff.
