Aviation Minister Scindia warns IndiGo over handling of child with special needs
IndiGo has been directed to submit a report to the aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
FollowAviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Monday, alerted IndiGo airlines after receiving a backlash for not allowing a child with special needs to board a flight along with his family at the Jharkhand's Ranchi airport over the weekend.
Scindia tweeted and wrote that there's zero tolerance for such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this. Adding that he himself will be investigating the matter and appropriate action will be taken.
IndiGo has also been directed to submit a report to the aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The move was taken after the family's harrowing situation viral on social media, causing widespread outrage.
In its statement, IndiGo stated that the child constituted a threat to the safety of other passengers. However, it highlighted that it takes pride in being "inclusive" and denied claims of discriminatory behaviour.
"For passenger safety, the specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 7, as he was in a panic."
The airline added that the ground staff waited for him to calm down until the last minute but to no avail.
A fellow passenger named Manisha Gupta, and another present at the scene, scripted the whole incident in a Facebook post.
As per Gupta, the IndiGo manager screamed and informed people that the boy was uncontrollable.
Gupta quoted a fellow passenger's rejoinder to the airline manager, "The only one who is in panic is you."
The airline added that the family was given a hotel room and travelled to their destination the following day.
On the same flight, the doctors offered full support to the child and his parents if any health incidents occurred mid-air, following Gupta in its post. Other passengers rallied around the family, according to Gupta.
Gupta added that they held up their mobile phones, showing news articles and Twitter posts on SC's judgments on how no airline could discriminate against passengers with disabilities.
Gupta stated, "The three (the family) had not once lost their dignity, raised their voice, or spoken one unreasonable word in those 45 minutes of disagreement, passion, rage, and contestation."
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