Airline Provides Para-Athlete Broken Wheelchair, No Ramp Access
Joe Cortez May 28, 2015
Para-athlete claims Air India was not prepared for her travel despite her attempts to coordinate ahead of her flight.
An Indian para-athlete is speaking up about her experience on a recent Air India flight, claiming the carrier was not prepared to accommodate her travels. In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Indian shot put medalist Deepa Malik says the airline not only forced her to wait for a wheelchair, but also provided inadequate service for her needs.
Malik was flying from her home to Surat, where she was scheduled to speak at a women’s conference. According to her account, Malik arrived at the airport two hours ahead of time to introduce herself to the flight crew and request a wheelchair for use to access the aircraft. However, Malik claims the airline provided her with a broken wheelchair.
“The wheelchair provided to me by the airline did not have a foot and arm rest,” Malik told the Hindustan Times. “It didn’t have a belt to support my legs, which is an integral part of any wheelchair.”
Another wheelchair was provided, but that chair also had a problem with one of the wheels. Problems continued when Malik arrived at Surat, as there was no ramp provided for her to exit the aircraft. The athlete claims she was deplaned in a “very horrific manner.”
On returning from Surat, Malik claimed that she was originally denied boarding because there was no ramp access. Eventually, Malik was allowed to board her aircraft, but was made to wait over an hour with another passenger for a wheelchair to take her off the aircraft.
Malik told the Hindustan Times that she has filed a complaint with the airline but has not yet received a response. A spokesperson for Air India told the newspaper they were not aware of the incident.
Winner of the women’s shot put silver medal at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand, Malik is outspoken about para-athletes’ issues. In April, the athlete scolded corporations for their policies towards para-athletes in an article printed by The Tribune India.
“For para-athletes, the corporate social responsibility is just a sham,” Malik told The Tribune India. “Apart from one or two big business houses, no one is interested in supporting us.”
[Photo: Sanjeev Verma / Hindustan Times]
I was very sympathetic until the last paragraph. Any handicapped passenger should be treated with dignity; however, 2 hours in advance might have been a little short. That still doesn't excuse AI for not have a working wheelchair or proper access. However, why would para-athletes expect "support"? Amateur athletes of all kinds choose to be athletes; support or funding should be on top of that and not expected. Remember the "good ole days" when one had to be an amateur to take part in the Olympics - not a professional sports figure? Although it was returned 30 years later, Jim Thorpe had his 1912 medals taken away because he had been paid $2 per baseball game in 1910-1911. Today, much of the spirit of amateur sports has been destroyed by professionals taking part in the Olympics, IMHO.