We followed rules of code-sharing: Swiss Air

Swiss Air followed the terms of the code-sharing agreement when it asked Kanta Sethi (79) to buy a new ticket to travel from Zurich to Mumbai after she suffered a paralytic stroke, said its spokesperson on Wednesday.

The Switzerland airline had told Sethi that the Air India ticket she had booked under the code-sharing agreement became invalid owing to her medical condition, which, according to them, is a clause mentioned behind the ticket.

Sethi was returning from Zurich where she had suffered a stroke when the airlines refused to accept her Air India ticket and asked her to buy a new ticket, which cost her Rs 2.75 lakh.

“The operating carrier of a code-share flight has to bear the full responsibility for the health and safety of a medical case and of the other fliers,” said the Swiss Air spokesperson. “The airline followed all rules… and respected all commercial agreements.”

Though Sethi did not lodge an official complaint at the Zurich airport or with the Swiss Air authorities, the airlines sent an e-mail clarification to Hindustan Times explaining the protocol after her family narrated their experience to Hindustan Times.