"Shocking, Shameful": Netizens Furious As IndiGo Bars Child With Special Needs From Boarding Flight
A group of doctors, travelling on the same flight, offered to provide full support to the child and his parents if any health episode were to occur mid-air, said Gupta in her post.
A day after it came to light that IndiGo barred a specially-abled child from boarding a flight at the Ranchi airport as he was in "a state of panic", the airline is facing the heat on Twitter, and otherwise.
What exactly happened
An adolescent with special needs was barred from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday.
Saturday's incident came to light after other passengers posted about this incident on social media on Sunday. Manisha Gupta, a fellow passenger and a witness to the scene, wrote about the incident in an elaborate Facebook post, and that went viral.
AFP
"Risk to other passengers"
"The Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight. That he was a risk to other passengers. That he would have to become 'normal', before he could be travel-worthy. And the staff then went on to state something on lines of 'behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers, deems them unfit to travel," the in-depth Facebook post written by Gupta said.
Other passengers did not have any problem
According to the post, there was an uproar following the announcement as other passengers said they did not have any problem with the child and his parents travelling. A group of doctors, travelling on the same flight, offered to provide full support to the child and his parents if any health episode were to occur mid-air, said Gupta in her post.
airport ranchi indigo
Passengers objected, but failed
Gupta noted how other passengers rallied around the family. They held up their mobile phones, said Gupta, with news articles, Twitter posts on Supreme Court judgments on how no airline could discriminate against passengers with disabilities.
"In those 45 minutes of argument, temper, rage and contestation, the three (the family) had not once lost their dignity or raised their voice or spoken one irrational word," said Gupta.
The post added that the three of them were finally not allowed to travel, while the chaos continued for some time.
Facebook post that went viral
Furore on Twitter
Reacting sharply to the incident, some on Twitter called for a "boycott" while some others termed it as "shameful", demanding strict action.
Shameful. Indigo and it¡¯s employees are running their own parallel rules -
¡ª Daljit (@daljit67231) May 8, 2022
Wish more people,specially people in authority, understand,help and empathise with disability related issues in public.
¡ª Dil Yadav (@dilyadava) May 9, 2022
People with disabilities are more than normal and are never a threat to peace and order.
Be kind and responsible and let them exercise their due rights.
Does the co have no sensitization program for its staff, what were the others doing. No one stopped him. I always felt God send special children to the houses who love and take care. I bow down on my knees for the parents. My apology from the society which failed the child.
¡ª DEBA PRATIM GHATAK (@dpghatak) May 9, 2022
There should a national call to boycott indigo
¡ª Lang (@Lang21067418) May 9, 2022
As sibling of a special needs child (now deceased), this enrages & saddens me. More so when it comes from supposedly educated people. Sadly no money can buy empathy & understanding but it doesn¡¯t take much to learn & imbibe it. I wish the passengers took a stand & refused to fly
¡ª Melissa Arulappan (@meltwith) May 8, 2022
Very sad n indigo needs to change attitude n message has to go down to all staff at indigo.
¡ª Ajay Kapoor (@kapoorajay21) May 9, 2022
So wrong!! Can't even imagine the trauma the child went through. Why can't we be more humane and understanding towards each others?
¡ª Jennifer Abreo (@jennifer_abreo) May 8, 2022
IndiGo's statement
The airline, in a statement today, said the child posed a threat to other passengers' safety. It further stressed that it takes pride in being "inclusive", playing down suggestions of discriminatory behaviour.
"In-view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 7, as he was in a state of panic. The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute, but to no avail," said the airline in a statement.
Representative Image
"We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or its customers," the airline stressed. Later, the family, said the airline, was provided hotel stay and they flew next morning to their destination.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a report from IndiGo in the matter.
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Senior Writer at Indiatimes. She writes on Lifestyle, fashion, beauty, astrology and health.
