On May 7, IndiGo denied boarding to a specially-abled boy and his parents at Ranchi airport. A fellow passenger witnessed the incident and shared a lengthy post along with pictures of the same on social media. The incident went viral and many slammed IndiGo staff for their inappropriate behaviour. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) investigated the incident and imposed a fine of ₹5 lakhs on IndiGo for denying boarding to the specially-abled child and his parents.
DGCA Fines IndiGo ₹5 Lakhs For Inappropriately Handling Specially-Abled Boy
According to Business Standard, DGCA revealed to the media that to avoid such situations in the future, it will revisit its own regulations. It will soon be mandatory for flights to take the airport doctor’s written opinion on passengers’ health before making any decision not to allow a passenger to board the flight. The DGCA fined IndiGo ₹ 5 lakh for improper handling of the incident at Ranchi Airport.
DGCA will implement new regulations to handle passengers with special abilities
The new regulations of DGCA provides for a written consultation with the flight captains to ask for their opinion to allow boarding to these passengers. The aviation regulator said the handling of the specially abled child by IndiGo’s ground crew was poor and made the situation worse. More compassionate treatment from you would have calmed the nerves, calmed the baby, and eliminated the need for extreme measures such as denying the child boarding. We expect all other flights to take the necessary steps to handle children with special needs smoothly and compassionately.
