Woman urges court to book Vistara for not providing wheelchairs

A woman with mobility issues has filed a petition against Vistara airlines for denying pre-booked wheelchairs to her and her mother. The incident occurred on September 14th when the woman was returning from Colombo. She claims that the airline did not provide wheelchairs during boarding or deboarding and that the staff made rude comments and forced her to walk. The airline claims that the delay and inconvenience were due to a series of unfortunate events that were out of their control.

MUMBAI: A woman with mobility issues has approached the Andheri magistrate court, urging that the Sahar police station be directed to register an offence against Vistara airlines for denying pre-booked wheelchairs to her and her mother.

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The incident took place on September 14, when Monica Gupta, 49, was returning from Colombo with her siblings and family members after celebrating her mother’s birthday. Gupta suffers from chronic medical conditions including rheumatic arthritis and a neuropathy disorder, and the family had pre-booked wheelchairs on arrival to assist her and her elderly mother.

In the petition filed at the Andheri court, Gupta claimed that they were not provided wheelchairs either during boarding at the Colombo airport, or during deboarding at the Mumbai Airport. The Vistara aircraft they were travelling in was also rerouted to Hyderabad, which stretched their 2.5-hour journey to over seven hours. Gupta claimed she was confined in the aircraft during this period and was not provided food or even assistance to go to the washroom to relieve herself.

The petitioner also claimed that throughout the flight, the staff made rude comments, embarrassed her in front of all fliers and forced her to walk even when she could not.

“We had pre-booked wheelchairs for Monica and mother so they could avoid standing in long queues and get priority boarding and deplaning. But my nephews, who were also traveling with us, had run around for over an hour to organise the wheelchairs, forcing my sister and mother to walk quite a bit,” said her brother Mudhit Gupta.

Officials whom the Gupta family approached with their grievance shifted the blame to someone else, the petition stated.

“Even when she boarded the plane, we could see that Monica was in pain and discomfort. After boarding, she took some painkillers and applied a balm. However, due to being in an upright position for several hours owing to the detour, she was in very bad shape when the flight finally landed at Mumbai around 11pm,” said Mudhit Gupta.

In Mumbai too, the airline staff did not provide wheelchairs or assistance to the Guptas for deplaning even though there was no aerobridge connecting the plane to the airport. Instead, all passengers had to walk over a steep ramp, the petition claimed.

“The pain and embarrassment that she had to go through during the plane ride home made my sister cry as soon as we got off. She broke down, apologised for putting us through the embarrassing situation and said she would never go on a holiday again,” said Mudhit Gupta.

After coming back, Monica’s condition deteriorated – the progress she had made over a year-long treatment was lost due to the stress on her legs during the journey, said her brother. “She’s also feeling very low emotionally and is always in pain. We want those responsible for her condition to not go unpunished,” he said.

A Vistara spokesperson said the Guptas were inconvenienced due to a series of unfortunate events, which were completely out of the airline’s control. “The customers had booked a ramp wheelchair with no declaration of any pre-existing medical conditions, hence, an ambulift was not arranged at any of the airports,” said the spokesperson.

“Their experience was further impacted as their flight had to be diverted to Hyderabad owing to a private jet crash at the Mumbai airport, which led to a temporary runway closure. This caused congestion and multiple disruptions upon the resumption of operations leading to a delay in arranging the wheelchair. As the wheelchair arrived, our staff extended all possible assistance to minimise the inconvenience. We truly empathise with the customers’ unpleasant experience and are in touch with them to address their concerns,” the spokesperson added.