Airlines can no longer deny boarding to a person with disability by their own without a doctor examining the person and asserting that the passenger’s health could get worse during the journey. Following a huge chaos over IndiGo’s latest denial of boarding to one such young passenger in Ranchi, aviation minister Scindia had ordered a review of the whole process.
Accordingly, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it has amended the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on “carriage by air persons with disability (divyangjan) and/or persons with reduced mobility” to improve the accessibility of boarding and flying for disabled people.
Amended rules describe that an airline shall not refuse carriage of any person on the basis of disability and/or reduced mobility. However, in case an airline perceives that the health of such a passenger may deteriorate in-flight, the said passenger will have to be examined by a doctor in person. It added that after obtaining the medical opinion, the airline shall take an appropriate decision on the carriage of such passenger. In case of refusal of carriage by the airline, it shall inform the passenger in writing with the reasons therein immediately.
The amendment came after IndiGo denied boarding to a specially-abled child g on a Ranchi-Hyderabad flight on May 7. Following massive outcry over the issue, DGCA had ordered a probe and fined IndiGo Rs 500,000. Faulting IndiGo’s “insensitive” handling of the matter, the regulator had ruled that the airline’s ground staff, which could have avoided the situation with “a more compassionate handling”, had instead ended up “exacerbating” the same. Before this amendment, the ground staff of an airline would have the final say on who could be denied boarding.
