Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said that he himself will investigate the IndiGo Airlines incident in which a differently-abled child along with his parents was stopped from boarding the plane at Ranchi airport on Saturday. The Union Minister said that there is a zero tolerance policy for such behavior and appropriate action will be taken after investigation.
In a tweet, he said, “There is zero tolerance towards this kind of behavior. No human should go through this! I am investigating the matter myself, after which appropriate action will be taken.”
A social media post on Sunday alleged that a differently-abled teenager was stopped from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport by Indigo Airlines employees on Saturday. The post said, “IndiGo employees announced that the child would not be allowed to fly. He was a risk to other passengers. He would have to become ‘normal’ before being eligible to travel.”
Issuing a clarification on the incident, the airline issued a statement saying, “In view of the safety of the passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 7 as he was in a state of panic. The ground staff waited till the last minute for him to calm down but to no avail.”
The company said, “The airline made the family comfortable by providing them hotel accommodation. The family flew to their destination this morning. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organization, be it for employees or customers. More than 75 thousand differently-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month.