And now it is Jet Connect discriminating against persons with disabilities

Dear Friends,

Anjlee Agarwal, Samarthyam

The incidences do not stop. On 20th Feb 2012, Anjlee Agrawal faced similar discrimination- this times at the hands of Jet Connect while travelling from Delih to Raipur which went unreport. This confirms that most cases go unreported and while some odd ones surface, the airliners are conveniently happy issuing a public apology and promising that they will take action. However, "the status quo" is maintained- things continue to remain so!

Here are the details of the incidence in her own words:

"Followed by the incident of Jeeja with Spice Jet, the very next day I was harrassed by Jet Connect on 20th Feb. flight 9W 2211 from Delhi to Raipur. At Delhi airport. I was asked by the boarding pass issuer, if "I am fit to fly". When I asked him, "what do you mean", he stared at me and asked me to sign an indeminity bond. When I refused to do that, he said, "its our rule and you canot fly without signing this". I had to sign it, as I could not afford to miss the flight.

At Raipur airport:  Inspite of airlines crew assurance of getting an aisle chair on board, the flight supervisor, Niranjan Sen at Raipur pressurised me to be bodily lifted by four male loaders with the excuse that while deboarding at Raipur- they do not have aisle chairs in smaller cities. Hence I was "ordered" to be bodily lifted till the gate of the aircraft and then transferred to the big wheechair and then carried down the steps.

2. On my protest to the above, he threatened me that they will not de-board me instead will take me back to Delhi as the flight was going back to Delhi and in midst of all this commotion, flight attendants asked passengers to board the flight, before I de-boarded.

3. I kept fighting for making an aisle chair available and I refused to both- "bodily lifting and carried back to Delhi".

4. Meanwhile junior supervisor, started harrassing me by saying that I have not put a request for wheelchair while booking the tickets. When I said that I did made a wheelchair request at The Delhi airport and also while booking tickets, he said that "wheelchairs users cannot book tickets through web booking". This came as a bigger shock to me because I did book tickets online and with wheelchair request.

5. The fight continued for 35 minutes and when they found that I will not give up, a "Jet airways" aisle chair appeared. With ruthlessness and extreme rudeness, I was transferred into the aisle chair and "literally thrown down" the steps, as if they are all trying to get rid of me.

I think, it is quite obvious that what airlines do is book tickets, make money, and treat disabled passengers as "noonincoops" to be loaded by loaders, as if we are "sack of vegetables".

There is no rule, no training and no courtesy for disabled passengers. Private airlines make us sign an ideminity bond, wherein its clearly written that Airlines will not take any responsibility of the passenger.

Now, it is time for the entire disability sector to join hands and stand up aganinst the "airlines" and ask them to come up with uniform and dignified policy/guidelines for disabled passengers and SHOULD pay heavy price for violation.

Anjlee Agarwal
Executive Director & Access Consultant
SAMARTHYAM
National Centre for Accessible Environments"
 

Jeeja Ghosh, a prominent Indian disability right activist discriminated by Spicejet Pilot

Ms. Jeeja Ghosh,
Head -Advocacy and Disabilities Studies,
IICP, Kolkata, India

Dear Friends,

Jeeja Ghosh, a celebrated disability rights activist became a new victim of the discrimination by a pilot of Spice Jet. Shocking, unexpected and very unfortunate incidence for a frequent flier like her!

In the instant case Jeeja was offloaded from a Spice Jet flight from Kolkata to Goa because the Pilot refused to fly with Jeeja onboard since he believed that she was not fit enough to travel on her own and ordered her to be deplaned. 42 year old Jeeja, Head- Advocacy and Disability Studies at the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata, was to fly to Goa on 19 February 2012 to attend a Conference on "Mainstreaming the Differently Abled"  and deliver a lecture on bringing the persons with disabilities into the mainstream! More at link: NDTV Articles; Sunday-Guardian; Times of India etc.

Here is an awareness raising Video prepared by IICP 

 

NDTV covered the story and is available at below links: 

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=ACXF8mNPiX4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=gv0ryxjLGWk

Of late, this has become a usual practice for the airlines to mistreat passengers with disability and when one case in hundreds is picked up by media, just issue a public apology. They can't get away like this anymore. If it is against the airliner's policy to discriminate against the passengers with disabilities, stern exemplary action must be taken and duly publicized to regain the trust of the passengers. We find every third day the crews and pilots alerting the security guys for unruly passengers and getting them arrested. Let there be news of arrest / stern disciplinary action against the pilot/crew for unruly behavior/ refusal to fly and any other case of discrimination with the passengers, especially those with disabilities.

As per Section 4 of the DGCA's Civil Aviation Requirement on the Carriage by air of persons with disabilities and those with reduced mobility, which is reproduced below, refusal to fly in the instant case is utterly illegal, arbitrary and without any justification.

"4. Requirements

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 of 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."

Similarly, the CAR also makes it mandatory to train the crews every three years on awareness raising about disability issues. However, this doesn't seem to be followed by the airliners in right spirit.

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 3 years on the subject. Only such persons who have current course shall be assigned to handling disabled persons. The training program should interalia, include assisting disabled persons in filling up travel documents as may be required while providing assistance in flight.

Advice to Spice Jet and other similarly placed airliners

It’s the loss of credibility for the airliner at the end of the day and it is in their interest to be concerned on these alarming trends. Therefore, this is the right time that the airliner not only take stern action against the Pilot for bringing this disrepute to them and for defying settled law with impunity but also take preventive & corrective measures by introducing “Disability Sensitization Training” for the staff including the crews & pilots. This is mandates by the DGCA’s CAR as well a requirement under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities which India has signed and ratified. Please be aware that the training should be by competent professionals/organizations working with Persons with Disabilities and not just by any trainer who may be routinely training the staff on other general issues.

For Other Passengers with disabilities

It will be good for you to know your rights before you fly. A crisp version of what the DGCA’s CAR referred above provides to you has been prepared by our friend Shivani Gupta (AccessAbility) and is available here “Air Travel- Know your Rights”. Read the CAR in detail at “DGCA's Civil Aviation Requirements on Carriage by Air of Persons with Disabilities”.

For Jeeja, and fellow activists

There is a need of sustained effort to combat these rising cases of discrimination in most sectors of public life – be it education and employment or in mobility and transportation – road, rail, sea and air.

In light of suo moto action by the learned Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Prasanna Pincha, there is no point now to file a writ petition against the Spice Jet as the High Court might reject the petition citing that a court of competent jurisdiction has already issued show cause to Spice Jet. However, nothing stops you from filing detailed Public Interest Litigation citing previous cases also wherein despite sufficient noise around, there was no action taken by the DGCA or the Airliner against the erring crew members or the Pilots. You will find reference to several of such cases in India on this blog at http://dignifiedflyingfordisabled.blogspot.in/. So now look sincerely at the following course of action:  

• File a PIL in Supreme Court of India to address the systemic issues and seek monitoring of implementation of DGCA's CAR - suggest creating a monitoring committee comprising of DGCA reps, two reps from airliners, two/three reps from disability organizations, one rep from Office of CCPD. Alternatively, all the airliners can be tasked with a monthly reporting to DGCA / CCPD /uploading on respective websites, on the actions taken to implement the CAR and open a feedback window on the website for effective monitoring.

• File a consumer case for exemplary compensation in the Consumer Disputes Forum citing the mental agony, trauma, harassment, loss of time, leading to non-attendance at the National Consultation on Inclusive Education at Goa etc. for an amount not less than 5 crore.

• Training and sensitization of staff/crew/pilots has been the most neglected area despite this being mandated by the CAR. Mostly they try to complete this formality by internal training conducted by people who may not every know abc of disability and many of them never conduct such a training! I strongly suggest that this be conducted by disability organizations like IICP-Kolkata, Svayam-Delhi, AADI-Delhi, Vidyasagar-Chennai, ADAPT-Mumbai and several others spread across length and breadth of the nation depending on the regions where training is to be conducted. Standardization of the Course curriculum for training on disability sensitization should also be considered on priority. 

Do it quickly since there is sufficient noise that been created by activists and the supportive media well wishers at this moment. Sustained advocacy and not an adhoc hungama is the answer.

I am pained at what happened and this was very unfortunate and deplorable. You have all our support in this hour and we need to put things across loud and clear to ensure that the guilty pays through his/its nose and this serves as a reminder to the defying airliners about what is in store for them if a similar thing ever happens here on!

regards,

Subhash Chandra Vashishth
Advocate Disability Rights

Access Rights of the Disabled routinely denied by airliners and railways

Dear friends,

Several things in India, including the access rights of disabled are so routinely denied that quite a few have just stopped even questioning them. Be it non availability of para transit systems to reach the nearest accessible bus shelter/city bus service/ accessible Metro or absence/inaccessibility of the pedestrian walkways to even venture out on the roads to reach the public transport bays/platforms.

The disability law that requires access at all public places including the modes of transports is almost 16 years old, but doesn’t seem to bother the airline operators (despite the Civil Aviation Requirements on carriage of persons with reduced mobility binding on them!) nor the Indian Railways which faces several Public Interest Litigation Petitions in various High Courts. The most recent being heard in the Mumbai High Court that is hearing a matter on inaccessibility of Railway platforms and Coaches that was widely covered by media. Click here to look at what the Honorable  Court had to say on the same.

Now our Hon’ble Minister for Social Justice realizes that even the airline operators are routinely defying the law and had to take this initiative. We commend it and hope the Minister, Civil Aviation takes the right steps to “Let the Law Prevail”!

Make ramps compulsory in all airlines, demands Social Justice Minister

NEW DELHI: Union Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik has asked Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh to make ramps compulsory in all airlines to facilitate boarding by physically challenged persons.

The request, in a letter to Singh, came after Wasnik saw a person lifting a disabled to help him board the plane because there was no ramp to help the wheelchair. The minister also expressed concern at the insufficient availability of Ambulifts in airports.

Wasnik asked Singh to advise all airline operators to provide access to their aircraft through ramps instead of stairs. The Persons with Disabilities Act requires the air transport sector to adopt measures to ease the access to the disabled to aircrafts, airports and toilets.

The absence of Ambulifts in most airports makes the operators provide stairs for passengers to embark, requiring those on wheelchairs to be physically lifted.

Easy Jet discriminates against disabled passengers yet again

Dear Colleagues,

And yet another incident that shocks every person with reduced mobility.."Am I the next to be targetted?" The airliners continue to harrass and discriminate against persons with disabilities with their limited understanding. Its EasyJet this time. This is despite tall claims about what they offer to persons with disabilities/or with those having specific requirements at their website at link:   http://www.easyjet.com/en/planning/specific/index.html.

In June 2011,  they debarred a boy with disability for reason that his wheelchair was too heavy!  In another incident in December 2011, a blind women was not allowed by the airliner to board because she wasn't carrying the necessary documentation for her guide dog to fly (though the guide dog was wearing the official harness and collar tag!) The lady Ms. Joanna Jones had been flying for last 12 years with the guide dog! The excuses continue to amaze many of us each time! 

Not long ago, Easy Jet  was fined 60 thousand Ponds  for discriminating with three passengers with disabilities.  However, they don't seem to have learnt. Here is the recent incidence of January 2012.

Cambridge businessman thrown off flight "for being disabled"

14 January 2012

A Cambridge businessman was left feeling “degraded” and “demeaned” after he was thrown off a flight for being disabled.

Dr Martin Sabry

Dr Martin Sabry, 39, from Clarkson Road, has been in a wheelchair for 17 years after a mountaineering accident left him paralysed.

Since he founded his own technology company, aIDEAS, in 2005, he has traveled with different airlines every four to six weeks on business with no problem.

But when he went to board his easyJet flight from Gatwick to Montpellier, in France, last Wednesday (Jan 4) he was put through an ordeal that left him in utter shock and disbelief.

He said: “As I arrived at the easyJet check-in desk, I was handed a laminated safety card and asked ‘are you ok with that?’

“The card said: ‘Are you able to make your way to an emergency exit unaided?’

“I said yes and didn’t think much of it, but then I was asked the same question a further two times before I boarded.

“Once on the plane the purser said: ‘can you walk to the emergency exit?’

“I explained I am paralysed from the chest down and even though I am quite active, I cannot walk.”

With this Mr Sabry was escorted off the plane and made to wait in the walkway while all other passengers boarded.

He said: “I asked to see the captain and explained I had travelled with them hundreds of times before but the purser still refused to let me board or see the captain.

“As the other passengers were boarding he handed me the laminated card and asked me to read it aloud – it was extremely degrading.”

Mr Sabry was then told Ground Control said he could board, but the captain of the plane, even though it was not delayed, had overruled their decision and called for take off.

After the plane had left, Mr Sabry waited for around four hours to see easyJet managers who profusely apologised and put him on a flight first class to Toulouse, 500 miles from where he needed to be and paid for a taxi for the rest of his journey.

Mr Sabry, a previous winner at the Cambridge News Business Excellence Awards, arrived at his destination at midnight, 12 hours after he was due to be there.

He added: “It was so demeaning and unbelievable the way they treated me and the purser was obnoxiously rude.

“I am not new to being in a wheelchair, but if this had happened to me when I first became paralysed I don’t think I would ever have shown my face in public again.”

A spokeswoman from easyJet said: “We are very sorry to hear about any inconvenience or upset that was experienced by Dr Sabry on his recent flight.

“Safety regulations state that all passengers travelling alone must be able to make their way to an emergency exit unaided – it seems there was a misunderstanding regarding this [Mr Sabry was asked if he could walk to the exit].

“However staff offered every assistance to Dr Sabry to arrange his transport for the next available easyJet flight at no cost.”

The Disability Discrimination Act states that since July 2007, “it is illegal for an airline, travel agent or tour operator to refuse to allow a disabled person to board an aircraft when they have a valid ticket and reservation.”

Source: Cambridge News, UK 

Cathay Pacific discriminating against the disabled passengers

People with Disabilities protest against Airliner's discrimination

Nov 24, 2011

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: A group of disabled people gathered Wednesday at the Taipei office of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA) to protest the company’s move to reject a disabled passenger from a flight earlier in November.

Lin Yi-ru, who is wheelchair user, was scheduled to travel alone on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Taipei to Hong Kong on Nov. 2 and transfer to a Lufthansa flight for Munich, Germany for a seminar. However, after boarding in Taipei, Lin was asked to leave the plane because CPA thought she was not capable of taking care of herself.

It was pure discrimination, Lin stated, adding that CPA even neglected her after she had disembarked, which meant her itinerary was disrupted.

“It was very late. I kept asking CPA to arrange another flight for me, but I ended up taking a direct China Airlines (CAL) flight to Frankfurt instead,” she noted.

The group of protesters questioned why CPA ejected Lin from the flight if CAL allowed her to take the flight by herself.

In response to the protest, Ling Wei-chien, a marketing manager at CPA, said the incident had nothing to do with discrimination, pointing out that the company hired many disabled workers.

He explained that the decision to ask Lin to disembark was based on the company’s rule that if a passenger does not seem to have the ability to take care of oneself, the passenger must be accompanied by another person. Ultimately, Ling said, as Lin violated the rule, the decision was made to ensure aviation safety.

The manager said that the airline would apologize for not taking responsibility for Lin after she had disembarked, but insisted that the company’s decision was based on safety reasons.

Source: http://focustaiwan.tw

Reality Check by Hindustan Times on CAR and its implementation

Dear Friends,

Post the incident of Kingfisher denying equal rights to  a blind woman passenger covered in the earlier post on this blog, Hindustan Times did a reality check on all major airlines and a very sorry state of affairs appeared. None of the airline officials were found trained on dealing with the persons with disabilities in utter disregard of DGCA's  Civil Aviation Requirement on Carriage by Air of Persons with Disabilities and Persons with Reduced Mobility!

A few days back an  Air Ambulance (single engine) crashed in a residential colony in Faridabad, Haryana instantly killing 3 residents and 7 on board people including the pilots, doctors, attendants and the patient in comma! And DGCA confirmed that Apollo was running this services in violation of the DGCA's CAR which do not permit single engine planes for medical evacuation flights, though it permits single engine planes on domestic routes only.

DGCA has created a number of CARs which are available on its website. But does it have any monitoring mechanism that ensures that the rules/regulations are also implemented and when flouted, are dealt with a iron hand? If not then DGCA is going a defunct body with no control over the mandate that it has been given to handle. They need to pull up their socks before it is too late!

Subhash Chandra Vashishth

To read from source click here: Hindustan Times

No sight no flight?

HT City Correspondent, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, May 24, 2011

Even the skies don’t care for blind people in India. After Kingfisher Airlines recently made a woman get off a flight because she was blind, we ran a reality check on other domestic airlines and found that contrary to international practices, most carriers in India do not allow blind.


When we called the tele-booking counters for Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Spice Jet, Go Air and Indigo, requesting to book a ticket for a blind adult who would travel unaccompanied, all of the above refused.

While Jet Airways demanded that a co-passenger with sight accompany the passenger, the operator at Indigo’s counter insisted that a guide dog, along with a ‘moisture absorbing’ mat for it, is a must with the passenger. Kingfisher and Spice Jet, too, refused to allow such a passenger unless accompanied by an adult with sight.

Later, when we contacted the same airlines’ corporate offices for clarity on their rules, most spokespersons evaded the question or said they’ll revert after checking the rulebook. An Indian Airlines official, however, said, “We have escorts for blind passengers at the airport, and we’ve never had any complaints.” 

On May 10, Shabnam Mansoori, a resident of Ahmedabad, who was flying to Goa with her two minor sons, was taken off a Kingfisher Airlines flight at the Mumbai airport. The staff said she could not fly as she was blind. "I had flown the same airlines from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Then why didn’t they let me take a connecting flight to Goa?” she asks. “The government must act to ensure that blind travellers are treated with dignity,” says Mansuri’s husband Sameer, who is also blind and claims to have faced a similar predicament earlier.
The ministry of Civil Aviation remained unavailable for comment 

Kingfisher Airlines discriminates against Lady Passenger with Visual Disability

Dear Friends,

If what we hear from the Mid Day coverage is true, this is yet another gruesome incident of discrimination & the inhuman, cruel and indecent behaviour of the Airlines crew (Kingfisher Airlines this time)  with a lady passenger with visual impairment and her two young children. Such incidents only go on to prove that Kingfisher doesn't spend much on the mandatory disability equality training of their staff and each time Mr. Vijay Mallya has to issue a public apology!  But is that the answer? Will a public apology undo the shock, torture and inhuman treatment meted out to a lady passenger with disability?

The Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on Carriage of Persons with Disabilities and Persons with Reduced mobility amply clarifies to all airlines in section 4.4 to conduct disability awareness training for all crew member before posting them and then a refresher course every three years. The extract of section 4.4 is as below:

"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 3 years on the subject. Only such persons who have current course shall be assigned to handling disabled persons. The training program should interalia, include assisting disabled persons in filling up travel documents as may be required while providing assistance in flight."

This is mockery of their own CAR referred above as well as the Article 14 Part III of Constitution of India that ensures equality and not to forget the Persons with disabilities (Equal Opportunity,  Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 read with UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which India is a signatory. 

This is a worst example of how erratic &  deficient the services are when it comes to persons with disabilities. The Kingfisher website in their section on Special Needs Passengers, continue to insist on filling up MEDIF form and also insist for medical certificate from the Visually impaired or hearing impaired guests against all settled norms of Civil Aviation Requirement. The instruction on the website says: 

"We wish to make your travel experience as comfortable as possible. And we have special facilities for our guests with special needs. 

Visually impaired or hearing impaired guests: If you require meet-and-assist service, or if you need to be guided to or from the aircraft, please notify the booking agent and complete a MEDIF form or provide a medical certificate.

If there is any other special need with which you require assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask when you book your flight with Kingfisher Airlines. We will do everything we can to accommodate your needs"

Whereas, the CAR categorically mandates in section 5.1 

 "No Medical clearance or special forms shall be insisted from persons with disabilities or persons with reduced mobility who only require special assistance at the airport for assistance in embarking/ disembarking and a reasonable accommodation in flight, who otherwise do not require any additional assistance."

This incident has shocked the disability sector and this humiliation is shared by all of us. We treat this as a matter of grave concern and strongly condemn all such practices which exclude persons with disabilities or violates their equal rights at the whims and fancies of untrained ground staff. The senior management can no more escape with public apologies. Therefore, an immediate and stern action against the culprits is the need of the hour besides heavy penalties on the Airlife for this serious lapse to set a precedent. 

regards

Subhash Chandra Vashishth, 

Advocate Disability Rights, India

Here is the story covered by Mid Day

Click to read from Source: Mid Day

Kingfisher crew offloads blind woman with kids

By: Vedika Chaubey Date:  2011-05-21 Place: Mumbai

Airline makes them disembark from flight, leaves them unattended for nearly an hour and a half as aircraft takes off without them

A private airline made a blind woman and her two children disembark from her connecting flight to Goa and left them unattended for nearly an hour and a half while the plane took off without them.

Adding insult to injury, the airline's staff allegedly told the woman that she could not travel with two kids because she was blind.

Shabnam Mansuri (35) says the experience has made her realise the fallacy of thinking that she can be treated like everyone else despite her handicap.

On May 10, Mansuri was travelling with her sons Lukman (7) and 18-month-old Luftaan from Ahmedabad to Goa via Mumbai to meet her husband. Her tickets had been booked with Kingfisher Airlines.

"I boarded the Kingfisher flight from Ahmedabad and reached Mumbai, from where I was supposed to take a connecting flight to Goa. I had barely taken a seat in the connecting flight around 12.30 pm when a crew member came and asked me to follow him. He also asked me to take my cabin baggage and kids with me. Initially, I thought that he must be changing my seat, but realised something was amiss when he took me down some stairs," said Mansuri.

"I asked him why he was making me get off the plane but he refused to answer. When my kids and I got off, they closed the aircraft's doors and took off, leaving us standing there. One attendant told me later that I cannot travel with two kids as I am blind. I was shocked," she added.

She kept telling the attendant that she had two young kids and needed to meet her husband in Goa, but to no avail. Finally, close to 2 pm, a staff member came and told her that they would arrange for her to board a 4.40 pm flight to Goa.

"I did not want to bank on them anymore. I called my husband and he arranged for us to board another airline's 3.10 pm flight. My question is, how can they let me travel from Ahmedabad to Mumbai without any trouble and then say I cannot travel with two kids from Mumbai to Goa? I was travelling on the same airline in both cases," said Mansuri.

She said the experience was one of the worst she's had in her life. "I am blind but that doesn't mean they have the right to discriminate against me. I had paid the full fare and if they had some problems, they should have informed me before I boarded. My elder son is so traumatised by the incident, he says he does not want to fly anymore."

Husband reacts

Mansuri's husband, Samir, who is the Chairman of Blinds Dream, an NGO, wrote a letter to the airline to complain about the treatment meted out to her.

A portion of the letter states, "Kingfisher officials told my wife that if she thought they were cruel, she shouldn't travel with them anymore."

"What the Kingfisher staff did to my wife is shameful. They had done something similar with me in 2005 (see box) and I will not let them get away this time. They have replied to my letter but that is not enough. I will take this issue to the consumer court and will go to the Supreme Court if need be. This is an insult to me and my family and I will not tolerate it under any circumstances," said Samir.

He alleged that he had come to know that his wife was made to disembark because of a VIP booking at the last moment, which led to the flight being overbooked. "If their company cannot handle blind people, they should declare that visually challenged people are not allowed to fly Kingfisher," he added.

The Other Side

When MiD DAY contacted Kingfisher Airlines, they said they regretted the incident. Prakash Mirpuri, vice-president, corporate communications, Kingfisher Airlines Limited, said, "We are investigating the matter. In the meantime, we would like to convey our deep regret for the inconvenience that may have been caused inadvertently to our valued guests."

Earlier too

Dr Samir Mansuri, Shabnam's husband and a celebrity doctor who is also blind, had allegedly been insulted by Kingfisher Airlines in 2005 as well. According to Samir, he was travelling from Mumbai to Ahmedabad that year.

"I was first in the queue to board the flight, but I was made to wait till all the other passengers boarded. When I went inside, they forced me to visit a washroom outside the aircraft even when I did not want to go. They said they were doing that so I would't have to visit the airplane's loo when we were airborne. The crew told me that they could not allow me to use the aircraft's washroom as I am blind and there were female crew members on board," said Samir.

"I felt insulted and raised the issue in the media. Vijay Mallya then issued an apology for the indecent behaviour on the airline's part," he added.