Wheelchair-bound professor not allowed to fly, airline cites rules

A physically challenged professor from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) here has alleged that he was denied entry into an Air India flight to Kolkata by the pilot at the Kempegowda International Airport early Monday morning.

The airline said he was not allowed because he did not remove the batteries of his wheelchair inside the aircraft as mandated by the rules.

The passenger, Kaushik Kumar Majumdar said he was humiliated. He had been flying with Air India since 2009 and had travelled about 25 times. “Last year too, I had travelled by Air India from Bengaluru to Kolkata on October 21 and returned on November 11 with the same wheelchair. They had no problem then,” he told DH.