83-year-old woman denied wheelchair by Indigo Airlines; criticised for the same

Indigo Airlines responded to the allegations made by the woman’s son-in-law.

Indigo Airlines was recently criticised for not providing a wheelchair to an 83-year-old woman. The airline allegedly failed to provide the wheelchair and was thus criticised for the same by the woman’s son-in-law on X. The incident happened at Delhi airport, and the woman was travelling from Bhubaneswar to Delhi.

Indigo Airlines was criticised for not providing a wheelchair to a senior citizen.

At Delhi airport, a woman, 83, was allegedly not provided a wheelchair by Indigo Airlines. The incident occurred on March 5, when the woman Susama Rath was travelling from Bhubaneswar to Delhi on Indigo flight 6E 5061. An X user and the woman’s son-in-law, Dr Bishnu Prasad Panigrahi, took to X to slam the airlines. He wrote, “Indigo flight 6E 5061 Bhubaneswar to Delhi on 5th March, Mrs Susama Rath 83 yrs wife of Late Prof (Dr) Sanatan Rath, my mother in law, had requested a wheelchair while booking. Unfortunately, the haughty Indigo did not help her with a wheelchair when she landed in Delhi.”

“They are no longer customer-friendly.”

Panigrahi added, “She had to walk all (the way) out to our vehicle. Air India and Indigo now have a monopoly, they are no longer customer friendly. At least for senior citizens, some empathy should be visible. Shameful attitude.”

Indigo Airlines responded to the claims.

The post by Indigo Airlines on X read, “Dr Panigrahi, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude for allowing us to address this on the call. As discussed, a wheelchair needs to be pre-booked at least 48 hrs prior to the departure; however, no wheelchair was added to the booking.”

The airline apologised for the inconvenience caused and assured that they have added a wheelchair to Rath’s future travel. They added in the post, “Further, we’d like to confirm that we have added a wheelchair for today’s travel & we will ensure a smooth experience for Ms Rath in Delhi as well as in Bhubaneshwar. Please feel free to DM us for any further assistance.”