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

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 penalised Rs 5 lakh for “insensitive handling” of the issue.