IndiGo CEO regrets Ranchi incident, offers to buy electric wheelchair for specially abled child

IndiGo airline on Monday issued an apology and sincere regrets to the family of a teenager with special needs who was barred from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday The airline said that it had reviewed the situation and made the best possible decision under difficult circumstancesThe airline has also offered an electric wheelchair to the teenagerThe statement has been issued on behalf of Ronojoy Dutta Whole Time Director and Chief Executive Officer of IndiGoWe had a very unfortunate incident at Ranchi airport on May 07 2022 when a speciallyabled teenager and his parents could not board their scheduled flight to Hyderabad the statement readsIt further said that all the staff at IndiGo are truly distressed by this particular incidentAll of us at IndiGo are truly distressed by this particular incident Since April 2022 we have carried over 75k speciallyabled passengers aboard our airline and our crew and airport staff are trained to serve such passengers sensitively the statement further readsThe airline said that the airport staff in line with the safety guidelines were forced to make a difficult decision as to whether this commotion would carry forward aboard the aircraftThroughout the checkin and boarding process our intent of course was to carry the family however at the boarding area the teenager was visibly in panic While providing courteous and compassionate service to our customers is of paramount importance to us the airport staff in line with the safety guidelines were forced to make a difficult decision as to whether this commotion would carry forward aboard the aircraft Having reviewed all aspects of this incident we as an organization are of the view that we made the best possible decision under difficult circumstances it saidIndigo further said that the airline would like to offer to purchase an electric wheelchair for their sonWe recognize too well that parents who dedicate their lives to the caring of physically challenged persons are the true heroes of our society We offer our sincere regrets to the affected family for the unfortunate experience and as a small token of our appreciation of their lifelong dedication would like to offer to purchase an electric wheelchair for their son it readsEarlier in the day Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said he is personally looking into the matter and that appropriate action will be taken The Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA has also sought a report from IndiGo in the matterThere was outrage after a social media post on Sunday described the incident that took place on SaturdayThe Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight That he was a risk to other passengers That he would have to become normal before he could be travelworthy read the postThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever