Air India Gets Rs 30 Lakh Fine For Not Providing Wheelchair To Elderly

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulator of India today (Thursday) slapped Air India with a fine of Rs 30 lakh over its failure to provide a wheelchair to an elderly passer at Mumbai airport.

On February 12, an 80-year-old man collapsed and died at Mumbai airport when he walked due to the non-availability of a wheelchair. Both the elderly man and his wife had booked as wheelchair passengers on Air India flight from New York. The couple had booked in advance for the wheelchair facility. Calling it “unfortunate,” the airline had clarified that it had requested the man to wait due to heavy demand for the wheelchair.

However, the aviation regulator imposed Rs 30 lakh fine on Air India in the incident. The deceased man’s wife was given a wheelchair while the husband was asked to wait. The man however decided to walk leading to his collapse and death.

The airline had submitted its response to the show cause notice issued to Tata-group Air India stating that the elderly person opted to walk with his wife, instead of waiting for another wheelchair.

While imposing the fine, the DGCA said that the airline had failed to show compliance with Civil Air Regulations (CAR) as it could not provide a wheelchair for the elderly passenger.  “Further, Air India did not inform about any action taken by the airline against the erring employee(s) and the airline also failed to submit any corrective actions taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future,” the airline regulator said, adding that a financial penalty of Rs. 30 lakhs have been imposed on Air India as per Aircraft Rules, 1937 for violating the provisions of the aforementioned CAR, accordingly.

The body has also issued an advisory to all the airlines asking to ensure enough wheelchairs for passengers who seek assistance during the embarking or disembarking of the aircraft.