IndiGo Will Not Appeal Against DGCA in Special Abled Child Incident

IndiGo's outgoing CEO, Ronojoy Dutta, said Tuesday that the airline would not appeal the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) order, including its refusal to board children with special needs.

The Civil Aviation Bureau fined the airline Rs 5 lakh on May 28 for refusing to board a child with a disability on May 7. Dutta expressed regret over the incident and offered to buy an electric wheelchair for the child.

IndiGo said the boy was denied permission to board a flight in Ranchi Hyderabad because he was visibly panicked. After the boy was banned, his parents also decided not to board the plane.

In its order, DGCA has said that it would revisit its own rules requiring airlines to obtain an airport doctor's opinion on a passenger's medical condition before deciding to refuse carriage in order to avoid this situation in the future. 

The DGCA order mentioned that more compassionate treatment would have smoothened nerves, calmed the child, and avoided the extreme steps that would result in passengers being denied boarding.