Denied wheelchairs, two ill woman passengers slap Rs 20 crore suit against Vistara

Mumbai, Oct 19: Aggrieved at being denied wheelchairs after landing, two women passengers with mobility issues, who recently travelled by Tata’s Vistara Airlines, have slapped separate lawsuits of Rs 10 crore each against the airline.

The women, who travelled business class from Colombo to Mumbai on September 14 are Monica Gupta, 49, and her mother Usha M. Gupta, 81.

The two cases seeking the huge compensation amounts, were filed by Monica's brother, Mudhit Gupta with the Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Mumbai, and a complaint has also been lodged with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said the family advocate Nishtha Malik of Naslegal law firm.

Mudhit Gupta said that he and seven other family members had gone on a vacation to Sri Lanka to celebrate his mother’s 81st birthday, and during the round-trip business class bookings, had specifically requested for wheelchair assistance for the two ladies, Monica and Usha Gupta.

However, their vacation became an ordeal as no wheelchairs were provided for Gupta’s mother and sister at Colombo Airport – Monica is suffering from acute rheumatic arthritis and a neuropathic disorder, and Usha M. Gupta, who is also afflicted from various age-related ailments.

When it was brought to the notice of Vistara, the airline’s country head in Colombo apologised, and witnessed the pain and anguish of Monica who had to walk a certain distance, but blamed the Sri Lankan Airlines which reportedly controls the ground-handling duties, including arranging wheelchairs.

Worsening matters, the flight UK-132, originally scheduled to land in Mumbai at 6.30 p.m., was diverted to Hyderabad due to a tragedy after a small chartered business aircraft crashed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport that evening, and all flight operations were halted for some time.

Gupta said that this resulted in an extended ordeal of nearly eight hours with no arrangements for refreshments or meals, the Vistara cabin crew failed to provide adequate medical assistance despite Monica’s obviously deteriorating health, and again no wheelchair after the landing.

Monica had taken her prescribed painkillers and also applied pain-relief spray, but the in-flight pressure and prolonged hours of sitting took their toll, but the crew neither helped her to go to the restroom, no announcement was made for a doctor on-board and they only handed her some unfamiliar ointments and pain-numbing balms, he added.

Usha M. Gupta was equally exhausted and like Monica wanted to reach home quickly, but the cabin crew did not prioritsze or coordinate the de-planing of the two ill women, despite their precarious health condition.

"We were further humiliated when the cabin crew pressured us to give up our priority status on medical grounds and we had to navigate a slippery ramp without proper assistance. There was no medical help or transport options and we were stranded in the darkness for over an hour,” said Gupta.

Even though one wheelchair arrived at around 11.45 pm, the family said it was too late and inadequate, plus the family had to fend for itself for another half-an-hour before a passenger coach arrived and took them to the terminal building here.

Later, the Vistara reportedly offered a compensation of Rs 1,000 in vouchers in an email for the trauma, said Gupta bitterly.

The family has moved the CDRC to seek compensation for the tortures, danger to life, humiliation and insult to their dignity by the Vistara airline, and have demanded a DGCA probe into "the life-threatening incident".

"We want directions to Vistara Airline and Singapore Airlines to provide adequate and timely medical assistance to passengers or potentially face licence revocation if they continue to operate in conditions jeopardising passenger safety and wellbeing," said Gupta.

Subsequently, the Vistara Appellate Office wrote to the Gupta family apologising for the inconvenience, confirming that two wheelchairs were reserved at the time of bookings. The airline also admitted that there was a delay in arranging a wheelchair at Colombo and they gave the option to Monica to walk inside, but the wheelchair arrived before she reached the airline counter.

"Throughout the flight, our staff made every effort to keep Ms. Monica and Ms. Usha Gupta as comfortable as possible. Ms. Monica Gupta was assisted to and from her seat to the lavatory as needed. Additionally, we provided medication to ease her discomfort, in accordance with your request. The delay in provisioning the wheelchair was exacerbated by the multitude of arrivals and departures at Mumbai and last-minute arrival bay change, making resource management a challenging task," said the airline.