‘Can’t Violate Rules’: IndiGo CEO on Differently-Abled Child Denied to Board Flight
The IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta explained in this case the "child was in a panic situation" and incidents took place when the crew was distracted.
According to the rule there should be no potential disturbance on the flight, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta on Monday stressed amid an escalating row over the airline's decision to not allow a child with special needs on board one of its flights in Ranchi over the weekend. The CEO added the same child has flown with them over 50 times in the past few years.
Indigo issued a statement saying the child was in a panic state and the ground staff waited for him to cool down. His family was given a hotel stay and they reached to their destination the next morning, the airline said amid huge backlash for the viral account of the incident at Ranchi airport.
A Facebook post on how the staff of IndiGo airlines barred a teenager with special needs from boarding with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday has created a chaos on social media forcing the airline to provide a statement clarifying why the staff did so. The Facebook post originally shared by a Witness, Manisha Gupta has now gone viral.
According to the post, there was an uproar following the report as other passengers said they did not have any problem with the child and his parents traveling. There were doctors among the passengers who asked the airport staff to consult the airport doctor. A government official emerged from the crowd of the passengers and said that the child has the right to travel. The post added that the three of them were finally prevented to travel, while the chaos continued for a time.
Mr Dutta said the airlines “took the best possible decision under difficult circumstances.” The CEO also offered to purchase an electric wheelchair for the child as a “small token of appreciation”.
“All of us at IndiGo are truly distressed by this particular incident,” the CEO’s report. “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,” it added.