The family of a 60-year-old passenger who died of a heart attack sued Kempegowda International Airport and IndiGo airline and won compensation of Rs 12.1 lakh for failure to provide a wheelchair and medical assistance in the golden hour.
Chandra Shetty’s wife Sumathi, and daughter Deekshitha, residents of Yelahanka, approached the city consumer court after a traumatic experience on November 19, 2021.
A trip to their village in Mangaluru turned tragic for the Shetty’s after they reached KIA to board an IndiGo flight. Chandra collapsed to the floor soon after check-in. While he lay unconscious, his wife and daughter sought help from the IndiGo ground staff to bring a wheelchair so that he could be rushed to a hospital. They claimed that the airline staff failed to assist them in time and his condition deteriorated. Due to lapses by airline staff, the golden hour passed without medical attention. Chandra breathed his last when he was finally taken to the hospital 45 minutes later.
His family members lodged a complaint with the KIA police station against IndiGo and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operator of KIA, on December 7, 2021, but to no avail. In March 2022 they approached Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
IndiGo representatives failed to file their version before the consumer forum despite being served a notice. The attorney representing BIAL denied all allegations by the Shetty family, saying the airport staff took the passenger to a clinic inside the terminal and then transported him to Aster Hospital.
On April 20, the consumer court slammed the airport authorities for their inhuman attitude. It said airlines and airports should provide a safe atmosphere for passengers wherever needed, and, in this case, IndiGo and BIAL failed to provide a wheelchair at the right time.
