Indian para-athlete Suvarna Raj alleges mistreatment by IndiGo crew, airline responds

Indian para-athlete Suvarna Raj

IndiGo airline on Saturday issued a statement of apology amid allegations that it failed to meet the requirements of its passengers. In an official statement, the airline said, “We reaffirm our commitment to being an inclusive airline and are dedicated to addressing this matter promptly. We are in touch with Suvarna Raj and conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. We remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards of customer experience and apologise for the inconvenience caused to Suvarna Raj”.

The statement was issued after Indian para-athlete Suvarna Raj alleged that she was mistreated by IndiGo’s crew members while onboard the flight from Delhi to Chennai. “I told them 10 times that I want my personal wheelchair at the aircraft door, but no matter how many times you tell them, they don’t listen…” she said.

Raj also claimed that her personal wheelchair, which cost ₹3 lakh, was damaged by the airline crew. “My wheelchair was damaged. It cost me ₹3 lakh. Indigo should pay for the damage to my wheelchair and I want it to be restored to its old state,” she fumed.

Reacting to the incident where another woman passenger in a wheelchair was mistreated despite her inability, Suvarna Raj said “The day before yesterday, a security staffer asked my friend, who also happens to be wheelchair-bound, to rise from the chair for a check. She was asked to stand not just once but thrice. My friend said she couldn’t but the crew member kept asking her to stand up saying, ‘You can stand up.’ Where has the sensitivity of people gone?”

The incident concerns the one where a a security personnel asked a disabled woman to ‘stand up’. The incident took place at Kolkata airport. Taking to her X account, the woman Arushi Singh said she was asked by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to stand up thrice during the security clearance.

“Yesterday evening during the security clearance at Kolkata airport, the officer asked me (a wheelchair user) to stand up, not once but thrice,” she wrote on X on February 1.

“First she asked me to get up and walk two steps into the kiosk. Told her I can’t as I have a disability. Inside she again asked me to stand up. I said I can’t. She said sirf 2 minute khade ho jao (stand up for just two minutes). I explained again that I have a disability by birth,” said Singh.

IndiGo has been criticised by passengers for its services several times before. On one occasion, a passenger claimed that she had found a live worm in her sandwich, which had been served by the airline. In another incident, the airline was criticised for its delay in take off despite claiming to be “on time.”

(With inputs from ANI)

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