85-Year-Old Woman Taken Into Pune Airport On Baggage Trolley As Booked Wheelchair Wasn’t Available

Pune, 12th November 2021: Despite booking a wheelchair two months in advance, an 85-year-old woman was not given a wheelchair at the Pune Airport today. She had to be taken on a baggage trolley till her departure gate so that they wouldn’t miss their flight, traveling from Pune to Delhi on Wednesday.

Sumit Matoo, the grandchild of the 85-year-old woman, Jagat Rani Koul, posted a picture on social media of the incident. Tagging the IndiGo airline, Matoo wrote that, his grandmother had to wait for over an hour before being taken inside on the trolley and that the airline said it had only three wheelchairs for passengers flying out.

Matoo also said that, ”We had booked the tickets two months in advance, and opted for a wheelchair at that time since my grandmother is old and cannot walk. What happened was insulting and embarrassing.”

The family reached the airport at 11 am and the flight was set to depart at 1:20 pm.

Matoo added, “At the IndiGo counter, my relatives asked for a wheelchair and were told to wait for 15 minutes which stretched for nearly an hour.”

With just an hour left, the family realized that there were no answers given properly by the IndiGo staff in regards to the wheelchair.

“An airline staffer said that if my grandmother could walk, she should. Ultimately, they were left with no option but to have her sit on some baggage atop the trolley and they wheeled her to the departure gate. A CISF officer arranged for a wheelchair there,” he said.

An airline representative replied to Matoo on social media saying, “We understand one of our managers was in touch and able to resolve the matter. We are extremely sensitive towards the needs of our passengers in need of special assistance. This has been highlighted to all teams to ensure non-occurrence,” the message stated.