IndiGo forgets an elderly couple at Istabnbul Airport, remain stuck for 24 hours

New Delhi

A senior citizen who uses wheelchair for mobility and his wife were recently stranded for 24 hours at Istanbul Airport after IndiGo allegedly “forgot” to put them on their connecting flight to India.

The elderly couple, Rajesh Shah (64) a wheelchair user and his wife Rashmi (59) were returning to Mumbai from London and had booked tickets from the airline with the London-Istanbul sector operated by Turkish Airlines and the leg to Mumbai by IndiGo. 

The couple finally got the next day’s flight to Mumbai ater a harrowing 24 hours.

“My parents had a single PNR ticket for the journey on August 17. My father is a wheelchair-user as he had suffered multiple strokes and has undergone surgeries. My mother also cannot walk long distances so we had booked wheelchairs for both of them for use at airports. They landed in Istanbul as per schedule,” said Shahs’ daughter Richa, who is based in Bengaluru.

After landing, the ground staff assisted them with taking the connecting flight to Mumbai. “They were made to sit at the boarding gate with their boarding passes. When a few hours passed, my mother went to check at the counter regarding the flight status. The staff took the boarding passes from her and asked them to sit till further instructions. This kept happening repeatedly and they were only told: ‘My supervisor is on the way, you have to talk to him’,” Richa said.

The Shahs were finally told that the Mumbai flight had departed. “They panicked and reached out to me. I managed to contact IndiGo to assist them. The local staff at the airport only spoke Turkish and my parents could not communicate with them,” Richa added.

When she finally managed to speak to someone on the IndiGo helpline from India, the airline issued the couple a boarding card for a Mumbai flight the next day.

“My parents are vegetarians and need constant medication and medical support. They were stranded in this condition for 24 hours at Istanbul airport...on chairs in a secluded place with a loaf of bread and coke. They were told that they would be picked up from the same place for the next day’s flight,” Richa said. 

After the issue became a media headlines, the IndiGo issued a statement saying that it was a regrettable case of a human error with their Turkish Ground Handling Services.

IndiGo further added, "We are aware of the incident of a mis-connection that happened at Istanbul airport with a senior couple travelling from London to Mumbai via Istanbul on August 17, 2023. This was a regrettable case of a human error with our Turkish Ground Handling Services, due to which the passengers missed their connecting flight to Mumbai. The IndiGo team at Istanbul extended assistance and provided them with the next available direct flight option. We have already taken up this incident to our partner airline and extend our sincere apologies to the affected passengers."

SriLankan Airlines denied boarding to a 15-yr-old boy with autism from Bengaluru Airport

A 15-year-old boy with autism was denied boarding a Sri Lankan Airlines flight on May 16, 2023 from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru.

According to a Times of India report, the boy was denied after it was suspected that he could create a problem for fellow passengers and pilots. It further stated that crew members of the aircraft kept following the 15-year-old boy, following which the mother complained to the airport police and the airline. However, the incident has come to light recently. 

"Two male ground staffers of Sri Lankan Airlines came up to us and asked questions about our 15-year-old younger son, who has autism and communicates using a mobile app. Shockingly, they began to say that he would be a threat to the pilots and fellow passengers on the plane if allowed to board. My son was hearing all this and stood scared holding our hands," the mother told Times of India.

She further said, "It became very intimidating for her son and also us, with the two men following us all the way to the aircraft as if to catch something untoward."

The report also stated that the family was carrying the boy's unique disability ID (UDID) card, which is issued by the Government of India. Even after showing the UDID card, the officials demanded a certificate from the treating doctor, which states that he could board the flight.

However, the boy was allowed to board the flight after his mother fought against the decision of the airlines and after a nearly two-hour ordeal.

The boy's mother also informed the officials, "Autism is not a disease and there is no need for a doctor to treat him, let alone authenticate him to fly. He is a well-travelled boy and his last trip was to Dubai, and he has never been harassed over his condition."

Source: Business Standard 

Delta Flight Products will feature New Seat Prototype for Passengers with Reduced Mobility at 2023 Aircraft Interiors Expo as per their press release

Below is reproduced from the Press Release by DeltaTechops.com dated 31 May 2023, without any change.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

At next week’s annual Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany, Delta Flight Products (DFP) will debut a full prototype of a first-of-its kind airplane seat that allows customers who use a powered wheelchair to remain in their own wheelchairs for the entire journey.

DFP has partnered with UK-based consortium Air4All on the seat, which converts a standard passenger seat to an accommodation for wheelchair restraint.

The patented design offers comfort and safety for all passengers by providing access to headrest, center console tray tables and cocktail table that adjust to serve passengers with wheelchairs in place. The product also enables airlines to retain the design of their cabin on every seat.

Implementation of the seat will also facilitate a more seamless boarding and disembarking experience for PRM.

“DFP delivers highly engineered products and services to fill service gaps, solve operational challenges and transform the experience of customers and crewmembers,” said Rick Salanitri – President of Delta Flight Products. “Air4All is collaborating with DFP and our strong production and manufacturing capabilities to explore new ways to deliver equal access to comfort, safety, and dignity for all customers. This patented design offers new possibilities for customers with disabilities to enjoy a travel experience they truly deserve.”

“An innovation like this in air travel provides those with reduced mobility a safe and comfortable way for them to travel and remain in their own power wheelchair,” said Chris Wood, Founder of Flying Disabled.  “It has taken truly a collaborative effort to develop this seat and we believe this product provides an optimal solution for all parties.”

Following the exhibition, the seat will be sent for final design and validation. Testing and certification programs to install the seat will begin once certified.

Delta Flight Products (DFP) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, which is committed to and has long engaged in a variety of initiatives to increase air travel accessibility while continuously innovating and evolving in this space. At Delta, this includes working closely with their long-standing Advisory Board on Disability in creating experiences pertaining to aircraft, airport renovations, procedures and more.

ABOUT DELTA FLIGHT PRODUCTS

Delta Flight Products (DFP) was established to re-think aircraft interiors. DFP offers modern solutions to airline interiors through the engineering and production of cabin design, technological systems, cabin furnishings, food/beverage galleys, and storage equipment. DFP provides full-service engineering, certification, and manufacturing to create innovative aircraft interior solutions to airlines around the world.

ABOUT AIR4ALL

Air 4 All is a consortium formed of PriestmanGoode, Flying Disabled, SWS Certification and Sunrise Medical. Each member of the consortium has a personal and professional commitment to creating solutions around accessibility in air travel. Through a combination of industrial design, passenger experience design, aircraft cabin and airport accessibility, aircraft certification and regulation; and wheelchair design and manufacturing, the consortium has been developing the Air 4 All concept since 2019. It has been recognised as a finalist in the 2022 Crystal Cabin Awards and has featured in media and conferences dedicated to the topic of accessibility across the world.

Source : DeltaTechOps

More information on : AircraftInteriorsInternational dot com. 

The Mobile Aids on Board Improve Lives and Empower All Act - a bill introduced in US Senate and House to improve air travel for passengers with disabilities.

Passengers with disabilities have described harrowing problems during air travel, including bungled security screenings, risky transfers onto planes, and lost and damaged wheelchairs.

Their plight has caught the attention of Congress, where bipartisan bills focused on improving air travel for people with disabilities are being introduced in both the House and Senate.

The Mobility Aids on Board Improve Lives and Empower All Act, introduced on 05 May 2023, would require the Transportation Department to publicly report on the type of damage that occurs to wheelchairs and other mobility aids. It would require airline carriers to provide information to passengers to ensure a mobility aid can safely fit on a plane.

It would also order the Transportation Department to research the technical and financial feasibility of allowing passengers to board a flight directly in their wheelchair, rather than being transferred out of their wheelchairs and put into a regular seat.

The Mobile Act was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) and in the House by Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.).

The act comes as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s funding and programs this year. Disabled passengers have called for more airline accountability and accessibility to be included in the reauthorization act.

“For passengers who use wheelchairs, traveling can oftentimes be difficult and frustrating,” Thune said. “I’m proud to join Senator Duckworth in introducing this common-sense legislation that would improve safety and accessibility for individuals who use mobility aids to help ensure their travel experience is as smooth and hassle-free as possible.”

In 2022, 11,389 wheelchairs, power wheelchairs and scooters were lost, damaged, delayed or stolen, the highest number since the Transportation Department was first required to report on this data in 2018.

Duckworth, who uses a wheelchair, said consumers don’t have information about the extent of the damage done, which is crucial to empower disabled people to make better decisions about which airlines to fly.

For example, while armrests and footrests tend to break a lot, this type of damage doesn’t render a device inoperable. But right now, there’s no way to know which airlines consistently cause catastrophic damage to wheelchairs versus those that report minor damage.

“It would be good for me as a wheelchair user to know that a particular airline does a lot of damage,” Duckworth said.

And if someone’s mobility aid, which could be a wheelchair, scooter or walker, does not fit through the opening of a plane’s cargo hold, customers with disabilities are either forced to leave the plane and get moved to another flight, or agree to have their mobility aid sent on a different flight, which can leave them stranded at the next airport until it arrives.

“For some people, just being moved in and out of your wheelchair is a medical risk,” Duckworth said.

For many disabled people, the goal is to be able to directly board a flight in their wheelchair or power wheelchair. Doing so would ensure that their devices aren’t damaged or lost, and would eliminate the risk of being dropped or injured during a seat transfer, said Heather Ansley, associate executive director of government relations with Paralyzed Veterans of America.

“This isn’t just a customer service issue; this is actually a safety issue,” she said. “If people don’t have access to their devices or a safe way to board the plane, then they’re subjecting themselves to injury.”

And while redesigning planes to accommodate wheelchairs would cost money, Duckworth said she believes doing so would benefit the economy in the long run, especially because the country’s aging population is more likely to use wheelchair in the future.

“The idea of a convertible seat is not new. We have it on trains, we have it on buses,” Duckworth said. “It is very much possible, and I’d like to get the studies done to see how viable it is in terms of commercial air travel.”

Airlines for America, a trade group representing air carriers, said it supports the bill and wants to ensure a positive and safe experience for all passengers, including those with disabilities.

“We are committed to continuing to work with the disability community, aircraft and mobility aid manufacturers and safety regulators to explore safe and feasible aircraft solutions that reduce barriers to air travel,” Marli Collier, a spokeswoman for the association, said in a statement.

A 2021 report found that on most airplanes, removing two rows of seats should allow the installation of in-cabin wheelchair securement systems with no formidable issues. The report noted that further studies on feasibility and safety are needed.

Source: The Guardian

Bengaluru Airport introduces more facilities for fyers with disabilities/ PRM through Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme

The Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (BLR Airport) has introduced special services for persons with reduced mobility (PRM) and those with hidden disabilities aimed at creating a more stress-free and inclusive travel experience for passengers / flyers with disabilities.

These initiatives are particularly for persons in wheelchairs or reduced mobility and visually impaired individuals. Entry Gate 5 at Departures will be open for wheelchair users and persons with reduced mobility (PRM). Such passengers can now utilise designated drop-off space at Lane 1 at Departures, and they could also request priority check-in and a spot in the designated security check lane. For the ease of visually impaired travellers, BLR Airport has also introduced Braille menus at all food establishments.

Bangaluru Airport is now a Sunflower Airport.

Navigating unfamiliar places and procedures while catching a flight can be stressful, especially for passengers with disabilities. While not all disabilities are visible some disabilities are invisible to an onlooker, such as low vision, autism, dementia, or hearing loss.

Airport is now a member of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Global Network, an awareness initiative that discretely communicates to airport staff that passengers with an invisible disability may need additional support.

The programme is designed to discreetly help passengers with hidden disabilities to navigate public places. Hidden disabilities do not have physical signs and may not be obvious. For example, a person with anxiety, diabetes or other such conditions is considered a person with a hidden disability.

Under this Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme, the Airport has introduced the Sunflower Lanyard.   This merchandise is available at the customer service kiosks"Care by BLR" in the terminal building just prior to entering security. They are free of charge and are for travellers only. While they do provide a discreet signal to airport staff, wearing this merchandise does not guarantee fast tracking through security or any preferential expedited service.

Any individual who may need additional support from the airport staff may opt to pick up the lanyard.  The Sunflower provides an extra layer of assistance for those coping with these issues and helps in making their airport experience more comfortable and anxiety-free. Under this program the Airport staff have been trained to identify those wearing Sunflower merchandise (lanyards) and to offer additional support, such as allowing more time for these passengers to complete a particular procedure or guiding them through airport processes.

Sign Language Aid

In addition  to above, select customer service staff at the Airport are trained to communicate using sign language and are equipped with the skillsets to assist passengers with hearing and speaking disabilities. The staff will also offer additional support, such as extending their time and assisting in guiding them through airport procedures. With this introduction, the team at the airport is hoping to help passengers with hearing and speaking limitations, to make their journey easy and pleasant. 

Braille Menus at Restaurants

For the visually impaired, ordering food at a restaurant can be a difficult undertaking. For the convenience of visually impaired passengers, all food outlets at Airport now have specially designed braille menus that will help in reducing their dependency on others.

Complimentary buggy service

Additionally, complimentary buggy services are available at the kerbside and at Arrivals Exit Gate A5 (next to the luggage reclaim area). Spacious pathways, wheelchair-accessible water fountains, wheelchair-friendly facilities, and hospitable lounging places are other additional features at the terminal.

This is a welcome initiative by the Bangaluru Airport and should be emulated by other airports in the country. We will wait for more user to expereince the change brought in the culture of handling passengers with disabilities and share it.   

Visit the Bangaluru Airport Website for more details under the Special Needs Section. and PRM Section.

Mumbai: Vietjet Air refuses to fly Mr. Arvind Prabhoo, a wheelchair user and Chief of Pickleball Association, saying 'no policy'

Defaulting Airline: Vietjet (Vietnamese airlines)

Name: Mr. Arvind Prabhoo, Chairperson of the All India Pickleball Association

Date: 17 Sep 2022 (Saturday)

At Airport: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai

Travelling between: Mumbai to Bali

Complaint:  Airline refused to fly Mr. Arvind Prabhoo on the ground of  "not having a policy for wheelchair-bound passengers" and no aisle chair (a narrow wheelchair used to transport immobile passengers from their own wheelchair to a seat during boarding and deplaning) in contravention of the DGCA's CAR on carriage by air of persons with disabilities.

Case Brief:

MUMBAI: Wheelchair-bound Arvind Prabhoo, chairperson of the All India Pickleball Association, was unable to accompany the 16 players representing India at the 2022 World Pickleball Championship between September 20 and 24 in Bali as he was not allowed to board a Vietjet flight from Mumbai on Saturday night. Prabhoo - a quadriplegic after a car accident 35 years ago left him paralyzed from the neck down - alleges that this was the first time he was denied a boarding pass on grounds of the airline "not having a policy for wheelchair-bound passengers" and no aisle chair (a narrow wheelchair used to transport immobile passengers from their own wheelchair to a seat during boarding and deplaning).

"Despite telling them that I was ready to pay for an aisle chair from another airline or my four personal attendants could lift me to the seat, the airline turned down both my requests saying they were unprepared to handle me in case of an emergency," he said.

Prabhoo, who is also president of Mumbai Suburban Table Tennis Association, said he had never faced such a situation on account of his disability in decades of travelling around the world as a sports administrator. "I had registered myself as a disabled passenger and requested wheelchair assistance while booking my flight. Why do they have the option when they don't have the facilities and why was I not informed at the time of booking," asked Prabhoo, who wrote to the ministry of civil aviation on Monday describing his plight.

To add to his ordeal, Prabhoo, the son of former mayor Ramesh Prabhoo, was asked to write to the airline when he sought a refund and was also refused a refund for his attendants. "They said that since my attendants were allowed to board, they would not be granted a refund...Why would my attendants travel when I wasn't being allowed to?"

For a fledgling sport just taking off in India with Mumbai set to host the fifth edition of the international pickleball tournament, the Bainbridge Cup, in November, Prabhoo, described his experience a "setback". "I had meetings planned with heads of pickleball associations from other nations on how we could take the game forward. Also, this is embarrassing for a physically disabled traveller in the 21st century when we have so many modern facilities."

Prabhoo's predicament comes at a time when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) amended regulations to improve accessibility of boarding and flying for the disabled.

In July, the DGCA issued accessibility rules for disabled flyers saying that airlines should not refuse boarding to any person because of disability or reduced mobility.

Vietjet India, a Vietnames Airlines had anounced on 18 July 2022 about its 11 additional direct routes flight services to key Indian cities from September 2022,  did not reply to newsagency's messages for comment.

Source: Times of India, Mumbai

Air India fails to deliver a disabled passenger's wheelchair at destination airport

Are the differently-abled not meant to travel? Should we just sit on a chair and spend our entire lives on it only? Air India has taken that chair away from me as well.”

~ Ajay Gupta, Author; Founder; Entrepreneur

On the 19th of July 2022, Mr Ajay Gupta, Founder Director of SK Educations Pvt. Ltd., a wheelchair user, shared a horrific experience while travelling via the infamous airline – ‘Air India’ from Delhi to Mumbai.

Mr Gupta recounted that at the Delhi Airport, he had submitted his battery-operated wheelchair to the Air India staff and received a receipt for it in exchange once he boarded the flight. As he reached his destination, Mumbai, Mr Gupta asked for his wheelchair and was told that he would receive it at the baggage belt which was uncanny since usually when he travels, his personal wheelchair is brought to the aircraft gate and he uses his own wheelchair after landing at the destination.

At the baggage belt, he was intimated that one of his baggage was left behind at Delhi Airport. He didn’t pay heed to it as he was keen on receiving his wheelchair first so that he could attend to the work for which he had reached Mumbai. He kept on waiting at the luggage belt until the belt was empty. It was then that he met with a piece of shocking and disheartening news; the baggage left behind was indeed his wheelchair and he had no other means to mobilise himself at the new destination.

You travel, you are tired, you land, and you find that your source of movement, your ‘wheelchair’ has been misplaced. On top of that, you are vexed by the staff members. This was a horrific experience that I had today traveling with @airindiain

— Ajay Gupta (@ajay_bachpan) July 19, 2022

As per the DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements, on carriage by air of persons with disabilities and reduced mobility,

“Airlines should do their utmost to ascertain that any such special equipment of persons with disability or reduced mobility is properly identified and tagged, and is always transported with the passenger concerned in the same aircraft.”

To his surprise, rather than suggesting solutions for the same, the staff was indifferent to the value the wheelchair holds for a person with disability like Mr Gupta and were adamant on the fact that the loss was due to the callousness of the Delhi Airport and not theirs – merely suggesting that all they could do was drop him to his car.

Mr Gupta was made to wait for hours in the uncomfortable and compact aisle wheelchair that has very narrow dimensions and is not designed for longer use. He was not even provided with an assistance to support him to use the washroom during the long wait. 

I had to go to the restroom, I had not eaten anything but in spite of helping me they just said, ‘Hum Apko Gadi Tak Chhor Aayenge’. It was hectic for me after a long journey sitting on the compact 13x36x42 sized strapped wheelchair, I had nowhere to go even after the landing

— Ajay Gupta (@ajay_bachpan) July 19, 2022

The staff wanted to take away the aisle chair to use elsewhere and as per them, there were no surplus wheelchairs that could be given to him for use for the hectic day he had ahead. “I use my own electric wheelchair, which makes me feel empowered and independent because I do not have to rely on people to take me to various places.” said Mr. Gupta,

An assistive device like a wheelchair is enabling and hence, a very significant article in the life of a person with a disability. In the past, we have witnessed a plethora of similar cases where Air India itself has had conflicts with passengers with disabilities that reveal unequal treatment and multiple violations of the various amendments introduced by the government of India. Be it the case of Dr. Anita Ghai, Pratyush Nalam and Siddharth Mhatre. 

Chapter 2 of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016 states,  “No person shall be deprived of his or her personal liberty only on the ground of disability.”

These are only instances with respect to discrimination against persons with disabilities. There are various other accounts where people with disabilities have faced issues with the airlines in the past. The staff did not address Mr Gupta’s questions and merely filed a ‘bag-lost’ complaint which seemed to be a half-hearted attempt by the staff and crew to make up for the omission that the airlines made. 

They even filed a fake ‘Bag-Lost Complaint’. Forget about help, there was no support and pathetic treatment over it. The lack of awareness towards the very sensitive differently-abled is frustrating. Where’s the inclusivity? Where’s the space for those who want to feel inclusive?

— Ajay Gupta (@ajay_bachpan) July 19, 2022

Way forward

In 2022, while we celebrate pride month, dignified transportation is a basic right of every individual whether disabled or not, which they should be able to exercise independently. People with disabilities are stripped of their pride when their Assistive Devices that are a source of empowerment and pride in situations of travel, activities of daily living and leisure are handled in such careless manner. Persons with disabilities consider their mobility equipments and assistive devices as extension of their bodies. 

Every airline has descriptive sections on their websites that laud their unending services for people with disabilities but there is an evident gap between the words and their actions.  It is essential that the Civil Aviation Requirements are followed through, for instance, wheelchairs provided should be standardized and can accommodate the needs of every user. In case of lost, damaged or delayed equipments, a suitable alternative should be provided by the airline/aerodrome operator.

While Mr. Gupta says he woud be taking this incident to its logical conclusion so that next time non one else suffers. Moving forward, with management of Air India going to Tata Group, we hope that the culture and service that the conglomerate offers – resonates in its airline through an equal, dignified and rights-based approach.