Air India !! Please DO SOMETHING for YOURSELF!

September 01, 2018

Sorry everyone, this is going to be a rant post.

So we had booked #airindia flight tickets to the conference in Delhi as its getting difficult for Vineet to travel long distances in train especially due to #inaccessibility in the AC compartments of #IndianRailways. We have to carry Vin all the way to our berth, and the biggest worry? Will we find a good co-passenger who will not object to Vineet's folding wheelchair peeking out of the lower luggage place?

Will we get at least one co-passenger willing to exchange his lower berth for VINEET, in case we haven't managed to get any ? 

Or will we get some privacy while changing his diapers?
Yes, these are the kind of things we have to worry about when we travel by train 😒

I knew that #KaziNazrulIslamAirport at Andal, West Bengal is a relatively newly built airport and after it's inauguration 2 years back it was working in collaboration with #AirIndia as well as private airlines. However, due to very few passenger input it shut down last year and was re-inaugurated this year with only one Air India flight, that too once in a day, and to and fro only one destination - New Delhi . We couldn't have asked for more, it was a boon for us as well as many others who frequently visited the capital city New Delhi. It is performing very well with these clauses and there is a good crowd everyday as we discovered on our flight day later. I was worried only about one thing - whether they had #BoardingRamps or not. So I asked my friends on Facebook and also called up the Airport help desk. Friends were not so sure and the help desk person assured us that it would be no problem for a person on a wheelchair to board the airplane. So I rested assured and we got ready for our most awaited trip to New Delhi.

On 10th August we reached the Airport early morning as our flight was at 8:20 a.m. I was very impressed with the Airport building and wheelchair friendly paths. They had the #transferwheelchair which we use while the wheelchair which Vineet uses is scanned by X-ray by #armypersonnel . And they also had the #AircraftWheelchair which is used to transfer a person on a wheelchair from the entrance of the aircraft to his/her seat. Its narrow and can easily be used in the narrow aisle of an aircraft. The personal wheelchair of the #personwithdisability is taken away at the entrance and stowed at the back of the aircraft. It is brought back at the time of disembarking in a similar fashion. All this takes time and hence we are always the last to disembark from a flight. However during embarking we are first, so it's a balance 😁

Anyways, so coming back, we were the first to be taken when the flight landed from New Delhi, AND #THEREWASNOBOARDINGRAMP !! As we looked up the long flight of steps leading to the aircraft entrance where the flight steward and stewardess stood with their hands folded in typical Air India style Namaste, we wondered what to do next and so did the airport staff who had escorted Vineet's wheelchair from the building to the airplane. Here are the pics I clicked as temperature of my head soared.

Now the most important part. The attendants offered to lift Vineet up the stairs to the entrance to which he vehemently refused. To those who think it's not a big deal, TRY IT ONCE. Just try sitting on a wheelchair while 3 or 4 people take you up a flight of stairs. You feel you are in the air and if one man stumbles, the entire Entourage will get disbalanced and not only you, but all of them will get severely hurt.
IT  IS  DANGEROUS  NOT  ONLY  FOR  YOU  BUT  FOR  THE  ATTENDANTS  AS  WELL !!

So Vineet opted for his dad to take him up the stairs as he is comfortable in his arms. 

But my question to the #MinistryOfAviationIndia is this -
 What will Vineet do when his dad gets older and is no longer able to carry Vineet up the stairs? He will never be able to have confidence in being carried in his wheelchair by attendants, so will he stop travelling by air from the airports where boarding ramps are not available? It is my understanding that each airlines have their own set of boarding ramps according to the need of the place/airport.So in metropolitan cities they have plenty of boarding ramps all colored with the specific airline colors. Since this is a small airport so Air India cannot afford a Boarding ramp (as it is, it's running in huge losses and I sympathize with them. They have served us well all these years).

So I now turn to the Aviation Ministry with the suggestion that provide at least One Boarding Ramp at those airports where the Airline cannot afford. It is not for the airlines,. It is for people with disabilities like Vineet now, and for us, AND THEM, when we grow old and will need a wheelchair to visit our near and dear ones. Yes, Please Please understand that it's for Yourself as well. For your tomorrow. That time you may not be professionally capable of all that you can do today. So here's requesting those who are reading this to understand and come to our help. We are human beings. Which other species will help us if not you? I fail to understand how Air India is unable to provide a ramp when all other airlines have given up on the steep, massive, dangerously sharp-edged AND expensive stairs!!
Not to promote any airlines here, but this gentleman makes many points in this report -
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2013/06/16/indigo-airlines-eliminates-stairs-for-easy-airside-boarding-why-havent-other-airlines-caught-on/#208224ef2018

Thanks for going through..

Update - I shared this experience of mine upon returning from Delhi after the Conference on Facebook and tagged our Aviation Minister and our local MLA, but no response. Then I wrote an email to the Aviation Ministry, no response. 

I am not doing this for Vineet alone, it's for all who are like Vineet and also for you and me. As I mentioned in my FB post, one day we all are going to be old and some of us may need a wheelchair to visit our family in some other city or country. We may be caught in the same situation as Vineet today.  Think about it.....

Thank you 🙏