Airline offloads female cancer patient for seeking help

• A cancer patient was allegedly offloaded from an American Airlines flight.
• Meenakshi Sengupta, lodged a complaint against the flight attendants.
• India’s aviation authority has taken notice of the situation and requested that American Airlines submit its report.

New Delhi: A female cancer patient who had recently undergone surgery was allegedly offloaded from an American Airlines flight destined for New York at Delhi airport after she requested assistance from a flight attendant to keep her handbag in the overhead compartment.

The incident was reported on January 30, and it came to light after a traveler from the United States, identified as Meenakshi Sengupta, lodged a complaint against the flight attendants, accusing them of refusing to assist her in putting the handbag weighing more than 5 pounds in the overhead cabin because she was unable to do so due to weak limbs.

In her complaint to the Delhi Police and the Civil Air, Meenakshi Sengupta said that she had also requested wheelchair assistance to her seat, “I was also wearing a brace which was visible to everyone and they would know that I have some discomfort…because I CANNOT carry any weight in my hands at all and I’m weak from the surgery and don’t need to strain myself by walking a lot.”

“The ground crew was really sympathetic and helped me get into the plane and put my handbag on the side of the seat,” she claimed. Once on board, I spoke with the flight attendant and informed her of my medical situation… They never mentioned putting my handbag away. The cabin lights were turned off as the plane was about to take off. An air hostess arrived at that time to place my handbag in the overhead compartment. I asked her to assist me in putting it together, but she refused and said it was not her duty.”

Sengupta went on to say that she “repeatedly” asked her to help, but she was rudely denied and told to do everything on her own before walking away.

“She was extremely rude and arrogant with her words,” Sengupta alleged, adding when she went to complain about the incident the aircraft members were “largely indifferent” and told her that they did not want to interfere at all, she alleged.

“They said that if I’m so uncomfortable I should just de-board the flight. They were collective in their decision to deboard me,” Sengupta said.

The event also went viral on social media, with many pleading with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to take action.

Meanwhile, India’s aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has taken notice of the situation and requested that American Airlines submit its report.

According to the airline’s official statement, its Customer Relations staff has contacted Sengupta to reimburse the unused portion of her ticket.

“On January 30, prior to the departure of American Airlines flight 293 from Delhi (DEL) to New York (JFK), a disruptive customer was removed from the aircraft for failure to follow crew member instructions. Our Customer Relations team has reached out to the customer to refund the unused portion of their ticket,” the airline said, adding that a probe into the matter is underway.

Also Read

Over 1,000 airlines canceled by US airlines amid strong winter storm

A strong winter storm has forced the cancellation of more than 1,000...