Mumbai: IndiGo airlines faced the heat from all quarters for not allowing a child with disability to board a flight with his family at the Ranchi airport.
IndiGo CEO meanwhile offered his regrets on the incident that happened at the Ranchi airport.
Throughout the check-in and boarding process our intent of course was to carry the family, however, at the boarding area the teenager was visibly in panic, he mentioned.
While providing courteous and compassionate service to our customers is of paramount importance to us, the airport staff, in line with the safety guidelines, were forced to make a difficult decision as to whether this commotion would carry forward aboard the aircraft, he stated.
We recognise too well that parents who dedicate their lives to the caring of physically challenged persons are the true heroes of our society, he noted.
We offer our sincere regrets to the affected family for the unfortunate experience and as a small token of our appreciation of their lifelong dedication would like to offer to purchase an electric wheelchair for their son, he added.
As the boy was prohibited from boarding the airline’s Ranchi-Hyderabad flight on Saturday, his parents — who were with him — also decided to not enter the plane.
Meanwhile, India’s aviation regulator DGCA has formed a three-member team to conduct a ”fact-finding enquiry” into IndiGo barring a specially-abled child from boarding a flight from Ranchi to Hyderabad as he was in a ”state of panic”, officials said on Monday.
”They will visit Ranchi and Hyderabad (place of stay of the family concerned) and collect appropriate evidence within one week from today. Based on the outcome of the said enquiry, further action shall entail,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) noted in a statement.
The regulator said it has received a report from IndiGo regarding Saturday’s incident.
However, in view of the facts and circumstances described therein, the regulator has decided to conduct a fact-finding enquiry, which shall be done by its three-member team, it mentioned.