Singapore Airline Refuses To Fly Special Needs Child: Mother Shares Her Ordeal On Facebook

Posted: June 16, 2018

Tags:inclusion public spaces travel with kids

A Singapore based Indian couple with a special child, posted about their ordeal on Facebook when they were asked to deboard a Singapore Airlines flight.

For any parent their child’s safety and comfort comes first. So was the case with a Singapore based Indian couple who were travelling on their way to Phuket from Singapore for a fun-filled family vacation. Little did they know that, the vacation would start on such a sour note that it will leave them aghast.

The Indian couple have a five year old daughter who is a special child suffering from a condition called muscle dystrophy. They were travelling on Scoot Airlines, which is a low cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

It all started when the couple were denied an infant seat belt for their daughter since the child had her own seat. The child who is five years of age, weighs only 8.5 kgs which is that of a one year old. They were asked to deboard the plane and the pilot refused to turn up even after constant request from the couple.

Divya George, the mother, was appalled at the irresponsible and insensitive behavior of the airline staff and posted a facebook post calling out the Airlines, “Our flight that was to take off at 7:35am has been delayed by an hour so far because they refuse to fly with my special needs child. They want to deplane us because they refuse to take her”.

Her post garnered a huge response from people who symphathized with her and questioned the airline’s indecent conduct.

Later on the father too posted a video wherein he is seen arguing with the airline staff and it is enraging to see the little girl go through this trauma.

This is not all, while most of the people have come out in support of the couple and the little girl, there are some who are questioning the couple and even trolling them on account of their race.

Humanity has sunk to an all time low, I must say.

Singapore Airlines should take up full responsibility of the unfortunate incident and apologize to the family. Also, they need to make sure that their staff is polite and responsive, more so in such cases where a little sensitivity would make a sea of a difference. There should be proper guidelines in place when it comes to special needs passengers.

We hope, the couple is offered an apology which they deserve and we also hope that not just the Airline in question but people in general learn to empathize with parents and children with special needs.

Image: Facebook

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