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Now, flights must have wheelchairs …….Saurabh Sinha
In order to make flying a comfortable experience for the disabled, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has made it mandatory for all airlines to carry aisle wheelchairs by July 31.
This chair will be used for taking physically-challenged passengers from their seats to the toilet during flight or for being wheeled around on long or ultralong sectors.
Interestingly, the DGCA had prepared its civil aviation requirement (CAR) for providing certain minimum facilities to the physically challenged last year but it remained a draft so far. Recently, the court of chief commissioner for persons with disabilities pointed out that the DGCA had prepared a draft CAR but without the power to enforce it.
The directorate then sought time to change its rules and has now amended them. “The CAR for persons with disabilities is going to be strictly implemented. If the things this rule provides for, like having aisle wheelchairs on all flights by July 31, are not adhered to, action will be taken against airlines,” said a senior official.
In the past, there have been several instances where airlines have refused to take physically-challenged passengers on their flights. Now under the CAR, airlines can do so only in extreme cases where the safety of the aircraft or of the fellow passengers could be endangered. In fact, airlines can’t refuse an assistive device or even a guide dog if the passenger has told them at the time of booking that he or she would be using them. It also lays stress on training employees to take care of the special needs of the physically challenged, including at the airport.
The DGCA has also addressed the airline industry’s objections to the provision of providing assistance to the disabled free of cost, as the original CAR draft had contained. The carriers said assistance charges should be left to them alone. So under the CAR, airlines are allowed to charge for stretchers and any extra material that it provided to the passenger. In fact, the DGCA has, in the recent past, made several draft rules for passengers’ convenience. But the slump has meant that the aviation ministry has given higher priority to saving airlines and airport developers.
As a result, CARs on passenger rights have taken a backseat. A case in point is a draft that provides compensation to fliers over deficiencies in service, like a confirmed ticketholder being denied boarding.
BIG PUSH: The DGCA has made it compulsory for all airlines to carry wheelchairs by July 31
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