IndiGo manager mistreats specially-abled child at Ranchi airport, carrier issues statement

Domestic carrier IndiGo has issued a statement after one of its managers allegedly mistreated a specially-abled child at Ranchi Airport on Saturday. This incident had come into the spotlight after an eye-witness account of the incident went viral on Twitter. 

Abhinandan Mishra, a passenger who was present on the IndiGo flight at the time of the incident, noted on Twitter that the specially-abled child had an uncomfortable car ride to the airport. The child was visibly stressed on arrival at the boarding gate, explained Mishra. However, the child's parents brought the situation under control. 

An IndiGo manager, who was not named by Mishra, at the time of boarding warned the family that the child will not be allowed to enter the plane unless he started to act "normally". 

"Yesterday an @IndiGo6E staff at Ranchi Airport did this. Shame on you @IndiGo6E.@JM_Scindia @DGCAIndia @PMOIndia Please take strictest possible action. specialneedchild #divyang," wrote Mishra on Twitter. 

Even after facing opposition from some of the other passengers, the manager did not budge. He allegedly announced that the specially-abled child is a flight risk. He even compared the child's condition, teenage assertiveness, to that of drunken passengers. He judged the child unfit for travel. Ultimately, the flight departed for Hyderabad, leaving behind the child and their parents. 

After the post started going viral on Twitter, IndiGo issued an official statement regarding the incident. It cliamed that the child could not have boarded the flight in a "state of panic". 

"In-view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 07, 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. 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," noted IndiGo. 

"IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or it's customers; and over 75k specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month," the airline added. 

Also read: IndiGo congratulates Jet Airways for its first test flight since 2019; CEO Kapoor says ‘Cheers’