Almost 12 per cent of international passengers arriving at major airports like Delhi book for wheelchair assistance, a survey by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has revealed. The survey conducted this fortnight comes at a time when an elderly passenger, who had asked for a wheelchair, lost his life after being forced to walk to the immigration area at Mumbai airport.
The survey shows that out of an average of 1.25 lakh passengers who land at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, 2-3% of domestic travellers seek wheelchair assistance. But for international flyers, the number is four to six times higher. 4-6% of international passengers coming from West Asian countries and 8-12% from Western countries book for wheelchair assistance, as per the survey. Officials said that the numbers are similar for all major airports in India.
“Wheelchairs come free of cost in India. Plus an assistant is assigned to you. At the departure area, a lot of passengers who do not have mobility issues book wheelchairs so that assistance is available to take them through security and long queues. This puts pressure on the system and often genuine passengers who have mobility or health issues have to wait longer,” a CISF officer explained.
A Delhi airport official who didn’t wish to come on record said that wheelchair availability is not a problem since both airlines and airport operators have wheelchairs at their disposal. “The problem is the porter assigned to assist. Often one person is assigned to two or more people, has more than one duty, or the roster hasn’t been drawn properly. That leads to delays at arrival,” he said.
In the Mumbai incident on February 12, the deceased 80-year-old Babu Patel was forced to walk since a single wheelchair had come for his octogenarian spouse, though both husband and wife had asked for wheelchair assistance at departure from New York. He collapsed at the immigration counter after walking for 1.5 kilometres.
Air India in its statement said, “One of our guests flying from New York to Mumbai on 12th February fell ill while proceeding to clear immigration with his wife, who was in a wheelchair. Due to heavy demand for wheelchairs, we had requested the passenger to wait till he was also provided with wheelchair assistance but he opted to walk along with his spouse.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its show cause notice asked Air India to explain by this week why action should not be taken against the carrier for flouting norms about wheelchair assistance. A DGCA advisory says that airlines “must guarantee the availability of a sufficient number of wheelchairs to aid passengers during both boarding and deplaning procedures”.
While the directorate is enquiring to find out if there was any specific lapse in the Mumbai case, Delhi airport and CISF officials told CNN-News18 that the problem of misuse of wheelchairs by passengers must also be addressed.
‘At arrival, the walk on the aerobridge corridor itself is almost 1.5 kilometres. Then there is the long immigration queue. Wheelchair assistance is often misused by some passengers so that they can get priority clearance at immigration,” an airport official said.
A CISF officer pointed out that in countries like the USA and UK, even baggage trolleys come at a nominal cost to discourage unnecessary use. “A nominal cost can be attached to wheelchair booking too to discourage misuse. Or a medical certificate can be demanded by airlines to ensure that only genuine passengers avail the facility,” the officer said.
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