IndiGo: Anger after India airline removes disabled teenager

Image source, Manisha Gupta via Facebook

An airline in India is being investigated after it allegedly refused to let a disabled teenager board its flight.

The teenager was told by the staff of the airline that he was a risk to other passengers.

Many people called out the airline for discrimination.

IndiGo says it is an inclusive organisation.

Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia promised "appropriate action" after he personally investigated the incident.

There is no tolerance for such behavior. He wrote that no human should have to go through this.

The airline has been sought by theDGCA.

There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken. https://t.co/GJkeQcQ9iW

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) May 9, 2022

After one of the co-passengers wrote about it on Facebook, the incident came to light.

Ms Gupta said that by the time he got to the gate, he seemed to be in the throes of hunger, thirst, and confusion.

She said that the parents had managed to calm him down with patience, cajoling, stern-ness, many hugs, and that other passengers also stopped by to offer help to the couple.

She says the IndiGo staff warned the parents that they would not let them board if the child did not quieten down.

We saw the full display of authority and power. The child wouldn't be allowed to take the flight. He was a risk to other passengers. She wrote that he would have to become normal before he could be travel-worthy.

She said that other passengers on the flight opposed the staff and assured them that they had no objection to the child and his parents boarding the flight.

A group of doctors, travelling on the same flight, offered to provide full support to the child and his parents if there was a health episode.

According to Ms Gupta, the airline's manager insisted that the child was uncontrollable and in a state of panic.

The post by Ms Gupta went viral, leading to widespread anger and condemnation.

IndiGo said in a statement that it took the step for the sake of the safety of its passengers, and that it made the family comfortable by providing them a hotel stay and that they flew the next morning to their destination.

We apologize for the hassle caused to the passengers. Over 75,000 specially abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month, it said.

There is little infrastructure to support people with physical or learning disabilities in India.

People with disabilities face stigma, discrimination and harassment.

A disability activist was asked to remove her pants at the airport. A female para- athlete was forced to sleep on the floor of a train two years ago because she was allotted an upper berth against the rules.