Differently-abled woman passenger alleges Air India made her crawl

A differently-abled woman passenger alleged that she had to crawl to the passenger coach as Air India did not arrange a wheelchair for her.

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New Delhi: A differently-abled woman passenger has alleged that government-run airline Air India failed to arrange a wheel chair for her citing security reasons due to which she had to crawl to the passenger coach.

Anita Ghai, a Delhi University associate professor, landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi by Alliance Air (Air India's regional arm) from Dehradun and requested the staffs to arrange for a wheel chair for her.

However, according to Ghai, despite her request, the staff present there did not take her request into consideration. "I boarded this flight with four of my colleagues. Despite my repeated request, the (air) hostess did not cognize my requirement for a wheel chair after reaching. The flight reached at 7:30 pm. I waited patiently with one of my friends," she said.

"Passenger coach came without wheelchair. I requested them to bring coach to aircraft, they said it can’t be done due to security reasons. So there was no option but for me to crawl. I got the wheelchair at arrival hall but not at the bay," said Anita Ghai.

Meanwhile, Air India dismissed the charge levelled by Ghai and claimed that a wheel chair was provided to Ghai at aircraft doorstep itself, though it took some time for them to arrange it at first.

"We strongly deny the statement...We at Air India give utmost importance to passenger's safety and comfort," an Air India statement said.

The flight which operated on ATR aircraft landed in Delhi from Dehradun. Since it was parked at a distant bay it took some time to bring the wheel chair, the airline said.

"Since passengers were getting down from the aircraft, our support staff actively helped the passenger to come out of the plane and the wheelchair was provided at the doorstep," Air India said.

Expressing their regret over the inconvenience faced by Ghai, an statement released by the airline read, "We deeply regret any inconvenience caused to the passenger."