No boarding denial to differently abled sans seeking medical opinion: DGCA draft

New Delhi: In the aftermath of the Ranchi Airport incident, where low-cost airline IndiGo denied boarding to a specially-abled passenger, the country’s aviation safety regulator DGCA has moved to amend its rules to say that airlines cannot deny boarding to specially-abled people without seeking medical opinion on a passenger’s fitness to fly.

Last month, IndiGo disallowed a specially-abled child from boarding its Hyderabad-bound flight at Ranchi Airport citing potential threat to air safety. Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducted an investigation into the incident that led to the airline being penalized Rs 5 lakh for “insensitive handling” of the issue.

In the proposed amendments to the civil aviation requirement on ‘carriage by air — persons with disability and/or persons with reduced mobility’, the DGCA has added a clause, which now reads: “Airline shall not refuse carriage of any person on the basis of disability. However, in case, an airline perceives that the health of such a passenger may deteriorate in-flight, the said passenger will have to be examined by a Doctor- who shall categorically state the medical condition and whether the passenger is fit to fly or not. After obtaining the medical opinion, the Airline shall take the appropriate call”.

The current clause on a standalone basis says that airlines can refuse carriage to any person on basis of disability if it opined that “transportation of such persons would or might be inimical to the safety of flight”. In such a case, airlines are bound to specify in writing the basis of such refusal.