An octogenarian suffering from arthritis was forced to change his seat on an IndiGo flight, despite advanced reservation. One of the passenger's relatives took to social media reporting the incident, alleging callousness on part of the airline. The airline, however, said that changes were made following aviation security guidelines.
According to Rai Sengupta, the granddaughter of the passenger Ajit Mitra (88), who is suffering from weak knees had booked a specific seat- 1E on the Delhi-Kolkata flight for the extra legroom and proximity to the washroom and paid an extra amount of ?600 to get the desired seat.
"However, at the last minute, an Indigo official took his boarding pass and made a manually changed my grandfather's seat number from 1E to 2F even though the boarding pass with 1E which was issued," Sengupta said.
She further said that the seat 2F was a window seat which meant that my grandfather with his shaky arthritic legs would have to cross two seats to go to the washroom. Naturally, it was a very cramped, uncomfortable journey and he couldn't go to the washroom till the end of the flight.
However, according to the spokesperson of the IndiGo airline, they sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to the aged passenger.
"We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to the elderly passenger booked with us on flight 6E- 307 (DEL-CCU) in Row 1. However, in this aircraft, Row 1 is designated as an emergency row and as per safety regulations, passengers with reduced mobility are not permitted to occupy this row. This was observed during our check and balance process, at the boarding gate. Therefore, in compliance with passengers' safety, we had to request the elderly passenger to relocate to the next best seat available in the subsequent row. We have also refunded the surcharge amount," said the spokesperson of IndiGo airlines.
