Offloading passengers cannot be an alibi to deficient service

Pushpa Girimaji

I was very distressed to read about Indigo Airline offloading a passenger at Lucknow airport for protesting about mosquito menace in the aircraft. This is also worrying because I myself am very vocal in expressing displeasure over negligent airline services. So my first question is: Was the action against the passenger justified? Secondly, can an offloaded passenger, in such a case, file a complaint before the consumer court, seeking compensation from the airline for the humiliation and harassment caused?

You must know that the Civil Aviation Requirement on ‘Unruly passengers’ issued under the Aircraft Rules on September 8, 2017, gives airlines the right to offload a passenger for ‘unruly behaviour’. But the question here is, firstly, did the airline do anything to allay the passenger’s concern over mosquitoes; secondly, whether the behaviour of the passenger came under the definition of ‘unruly behaviour’.

At the time of writing, all I have is the statement of the passenger and the airline. According to the passenger, Dr Saurabh Rai, the aircraft, ready to travel from Lucknow to Bengaluru, was full of mosquitoes and he repeatedly asked the airline staff to take some action, but to no avail. After the aircraft door was closed, he again asked if some mosquito repellent could be arranged. Instead of responding positively, they dragged him out of the airline and said he could fly only if he offered an apology and offloaded him when he refused to do so.

The airline, on the other hand, claimed that the passenger was offloaded for his ‘unruly behaviour’ and that even before his concern over mosquitoes on board the airline could be addressed by the cabin crew, he became aggressive and used threatening language and even attempted to instigate other passengers on board to damage the aircraft!

The civil aviation minister has ordered an enquiry and one will get to know the facts as they unfolded only after an impartial enquiry. If the enquiry shows that the offloading of the passenger was not justified, then the consumer can file a complaint before the consumer court seeking a hefty compensation on several counts: (a) for the airline’s failure to keep the aircraft mosquito-free; (b) for its failure to respond to the passenger’s complaint (c); for denying him boarding despite a valid ticket; (d) for misusing its power to deal with unruly passengers; (e) for manhandling and humiliating him; (f) for delaying his return to Bangalore; (g) for forcing him to buy another ticket to travel; and (h) for false allegations.

Even if the enquiry reveals aggressive behaviour on the part of the doctor, I do believe that he can still go to the consumer court against the airline for deficient service because first and foremost, the airline failed to ensure the safety of the passengers by clearing the aircraft of mosquitoes before letting the passengers on board. Today, we are all terrified of mosquitoes and mosquito bites because they can transmit a number of deadly diseases including malaria, chikungunya, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and filariasis. So by failing to remove the mosquitoes from the aircraft, the airline was putting the health of passengers at risk. That’s deficient service and a violation of the consumer’s right to safe goods and services.

I am not condoning or justifying rowdy or aggressive behaviour. In fact, if an airline does not redress a genuine complaint, consumers should take it up with the Director General of Civil Aviation and also file a complaint before the consumer court. But airlines also need to remember that Consumers have a right to complain against poor service and a right to redress of such grievance. And airlines have a duty to respond positively to passengers’ complaints.

I must also mention here that as per the National Green Tribunal order, airlines cannot spray mosquito repellents after the passengers have boarded. So airlines need to do that before opening the doors to passengers. As airlines are aware of the mosquito menace, they should also keep mosquito repellent creams and lotions for the benefit of passengers. They can even use those battery operated ‘bats’ to kill mosquitoes. Failure to take such preventive action, I would argue, is deficiency in service.

Are there any decided cases of consumer courts in this regard?

Not on this specific issue because the airlines have got the power to act against ‘unruly passengers’ only recently. However, the apex consumer court has taken a very serious view of service providers not responding to consumer complaints of deficient service. They have also not taken kindly to passengers (rail and road transport) being humiliated and evicted without valid reason.