We at the Cane Foundation are extremely disappointed and shocked to learn about the denial of Indigo airlines to fly a person with disability and his parents. This was done merely because the airline staff felt that the person with a disability might cause harm to other passengers as well as himself. The incident has evoked a strong response from the Central Government, DGCA, and Rights groups.
In our opinion, this is gross discrimination, which has to be addressed firmly and sternly.
Right to Fly in India
Courts have consistently held that Persons with Disabilities have the right to fly and to get assistance, accommodations, and accessibility. In a judgment we had earlier carried on this blog, we extracted paras from a Supreme Court Judgement which stated that the Right of a Person with a Disability to fly is a fundamental right.
Relevant excerpts from the Jeeja Ghosh case decided by the Supreme Court of India read as follows:
4.1 No airline shall refuse to carry persons with disability or persons with reduced mobility and their assistive aids/devices, escorts and guide dogs including their presence in the cabin, provided such persons or their representatives, at the time of booking and/or check-in for travel, inform the airlines or their requirement. The airlines shall incorporate appropriate provisions in the online form for booking tickets so that all the required facilities are made available to the passengers with disabilities at the time of check-in.
4.4. All airlines and airport management shall run program for their staff engaged in passenger handling e.g. cabin crew/commercial staff including floor walkers and counter staff etc. for sensitization and developing awareness for assisting passengers with disabilities. The training program shall be conducted at the time of initial training and a refresher shall be conducted every three years on the subject. Only such persons who have current course shall be assigned to handling disabled persons. The training program should, inter alia, include assisting disabled persons in filing up travel documents as may be required while providing assistance in flight.
4.10(b) Once a passenger has bought a ticket for travel, it is obligatory on part of the airline that he reaches the aircraft from the departure lounge, and at the end of the journey from the aircraft to the arrival lounge exit, without incurring any further expenditure.
You may read more about this case here – https://canefoundation.org/the-right-to-fly-is-a-fundamental-right/
Flying with Disabilities in India
We spoke to Dr. Kalyan Kankanala, a person with blindness and one of our trustees, about this issue. In our discussion, he stated as follows
During my initial days of air travel as a person with blindness, Airlines often denied boarding stating that it was for my safety. It was always a fight to get assistance and accommodations while traveling alone, and Indigo at one point was getting passengers with disabilities to sign indemnity documents that stated that persons with disabilities must pay the Airline if any damage is caused to their aircraft. Later, Indigo improved significantly in disability support, and whenever I was traveling alone, I flew only Indigo.
However, over the last few flights, I have noted that they no longer care about disability support, accommodations, or assistance. With growth, it seems that these aspects are no longer as important. It is disheartening to note that they have now gone to the days of denying boarding instead of facilitating and enabling a convenient flight for a person with a disability in need of their support. I will certainly not fly this Airline again unless they spell out the steps they would take to ensure that this does not happen to another person, and stringent action is taken against the erring employee. Any attempt to defend such actions will only show that the problem is systemic.