The Hindu Business Line : AI to limit wheelchair bookings from Sept 1

Air India is to restrict the number of bookings for wheelchair facility to between 6 and 10 passengers on every flight from September 1. At the moment, there is no limit on the number of wheelchair facility booking. This has led to situations where on some flights there are as many as 40 passengers requesting the service.

The airline now plans to limit wheelchair facility bookings to 10 units on westbound and six units on their eastbound flights. Official sources told Business Line that the decision was being taken because of limitation of handling a gents who help with wheelchair passengers at several foreign stations to which the airline operates.

“If there is an emergency then the airline will not deny a wheelchair to a passenger. Otherwise, the airline would follow the new system. Air India would not go back to the earlier system whereby, a passenger had to show a medical certificate to avail themselves of a wheelchair,” a senior airline official said.

The airline plans to lay down the new procedures on its Web site shortly.

Officials of international airlines operating from Delhi maintain that on an average they receive less than 10 requests per flight for wheelchair assistance.

“It is not uncommon for the demand for wheelchairs increasing when the flight is departing from India. This creates an unusual problem as here we can always hire part-time staff at reasonable costs to look after the passenger. But abroad it is not easy nor cost effective to employ part-time staff,” an international airline official pointed out.