Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that he will investigate allegations of IndiGo’s discrimination against a special needs child. The minister added that no human being should go through this. The minister’s comment comes after Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sought a report from IndiGo over the incident.
“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,” said Scindia.
The minister shared a tweet by one Abhinandan Mishra, a passenger who was present at the time of the incident. Mishra said that a special needs child, arrived at the Ranchi airport, already in a lot of discomfort and anxiety. While the parents tried to calm the child down, other passengers asked the parents if they needed help.
However, the IndiGo staff told the parents that if the child does not quieten down, they will not be allowed to board the flight.
While the child calmed down a bit, the IndiGo staff said that he won’t be allowed to board since he is a “risk” to other passengers. Other passengers crowded the employee and said that they have no issue with the child travelling on the flight with them. Many checked the IndiGo rule book to challenge the employee too.
A few doctors who were travelling too, said that they would take care of the child if any health issue occurred mid-air. Doctors, teachers, and government officials who were travelling too held up news articles, Twitter posts and Supreme Court judgements to show that no airline can discriminate against passengers with disabilities.
The employee said that the child is in a state of panic, to which a passenger retorted, “The only person who is in panic is you.”
Mishra said that “threats, pleas, dialogue, negotiations, hands folded in request” – nothing worked. The IndiGo flight eventually left without the three passengers to Hyderabad.
IndiGo also issued a statement, claiming that the specially-abled child could not have boarded the flight in 'a state of panic'.
"The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute, but to no avail. The airline made the family comfortable by providing them hotel stay and the family flew next morning to their destination. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers," the statement read.
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