Article of the Week

Wheel out discrimination!

The refusal to allow an autistic child to board a plane at Bangalore recently isn’t the only incidence of discrimination against the disabled at airports. Although 11-year-old Ahed finally got to board his plane after his parents protested, other disabled passengers face an obstacle course while boarding planes at domestic airports through out the country.

Wheelchair users complain of a variety of problems that start from the time they board the airline coaches with the footboard raised high above the ground. That is only the beginning. To board the aircraft, they are often physically lifted and plonked into seats towards the rear, close to the toilets. Some airlines even charge for this ‘facility’.

“Most airports in India don’t have aerobridges. While boarding the flight, we are made to feel like luggage,” said disability activist and wheelchair user Javed Abidi.

Communication consultant Salil Chaturvedi recalled a Spicejet flight to Goa where he was made to pay Rs. 500 for ‘special treatment’ provided by the airline in getting staff to lift him from his wheelchair on the aircraft.

“I was subjected to being lifted by loaders who are not trained to take care of the disabled,” he said. It was after he protested that the airline refunded him the Rs. 500. Milanka Chaudhury, counsel for Spice Air, acknowledges that the airline has no ambulifts. “We have provisions for disabled travelers both within the aircraft and outside. We are working on the modalities of sharing the costs. We are ready to do so with other airtimes,” he said.

Most private airlines charge passengers Rs 800 for ambulift facilities that lift wheelchair users from the ground to the airplane.

“If this service is requested for by the passenger and the facility is available at the station, the same may be provided on charges,” said Nandini Verma, spokesperson for Jet Airways. Although she did not specify what Jet Airways charges she said not more than five passengers used the ambulift facility in the year 2005.

It’s a different story at Indian Airlines - now renamed Indian. “We had realized the need for ambulifts 10 years ago. We get 25 requests for the use of an ambulift every day,” said Indian spokesman S. Chandra Kumar. “Delhi is the hub for medical tourism with a number of elderly and disabled people coming to the Capital for treatment,” he added. Indian does not charge passengers for the use of its ambulift.

A Delhi High Court judgment in September 2006 has come down hard on private airlines and the Airports Authority of India for their refusal to engage ambulifts for the physically challenged. A Delhi High Court bench comprising of acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir has asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to furnish a list of airlines using the Delhi Airport. This is to determine what facilities, if any, are granted to disabled passengers by airlines.

The Bench has suggested a meeting between AAI and airlines that use the Delhi airport “to evolve a policy for the airport in the country so that the provision of ambulift and other facilities to the passengers can be made where the same are not available.”

For other airlines, the question of an ambulift is an ‘airport issue’. Air Deccan CEO Warwick Brady, while acknowledging the paucity of ambulifts, dismissed the subject as an ‘airport issue’. Very few airlines in India provide ambulifts and Air Deccan is not one of these. The Kolkata airport, for instance has only one ambulift. Clearly that is not enough for the disabled population of the country. We have especially trained staff to handle disabled passengers,” he said.

A spokesperson for Kingfisher confirmed that the airline does not have an ambulift at present. “We are in the process of acquiring one,” she said. Attempts to reach Air Sahara evoked no response.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has announced proposed norms for “Carriage of physically challenged passengers” and had invited comments from the public by October 15.

But even through the code has detailed sections on passengers coding, disabled care and the special facilities to be extended to them, it doesn’t mention ambulifts.

“The new terminal at the Delhi Airport we are proposing will have world-class facilities for the physically challenged,” said a spokesman for GMR that has been awarded the contract for the New Delhi airport. “The existing terminal is also being made disabled-friendly with special toilets and wheelchair and ramps. Currently ambulifts are available only with national carriers. We will need airlines and discuss the issue so that passengers get the facility.”

Source:‘Wheel out discrimination’. The Hindustan Times, Daily, New Delhi, 14 October 2006.