Disabled teen in aircraft seat spat
A father is demanding a personal apology from an airline pilot who he accuses of insulting his Down’s syndrome daughter.
Bank director Rafi Ahmed has complained to the CEO of Air Arabia after he, his wife Saleha and daughter Hana, 15, were told to move seats despite paying extra to sit next to one of the plane’s exit doors on a flight from Sharjah to Goa.
They say the incident culminated with the member of the flight deck being rude about their daughter’s disability.
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Air Arabia refutes the claims and says it was following international safety regulations
Saleha also said she asked a member of the cabin crew why they had to move and claims she was told: “Look at your daughter... you still want an explanation? Isn’t it obvious?”
The family say they went through check-in, passport control and the gate at the airport before boarding a bus and then taking their allocated seats on board the plane.
They were then quizzed by staff and asked to move. The airline says the family refused and one of the pilots was called from the flight deck to deal with the situation.
Rafi said: “We felt belittled, embarrassed and enraged with anger and humiliation by someone who has very little knowledge about our daughter and her condition. He implied my daughter had no right to be on the flight.”
He said he wanted the man to personally apologise to Hana. However, the airline said staff had behaved with “complete professionalism” and had only been following safety rules.
In a statement, Air Arabia said: “As per international airline safety regulations, disabled people and people with reduced mobility are not permitted to occupy seats which allow direct access to emergency exits. This rule is made clear at the time of booking and is included in the terms and conditions of the ticket.
“Upon recognising that Mr Ahmed’s daughter was occupying an exit row seat, our cabin crew followed standard procedure and requested that Mr Ahmed and his family switch to alternate seats. Following Mr Ahmed’s refusal, and with the possibility of the flight being delayed or the passengers being offloaded, the First Officer was called to make a final attempt to resolve the situation.”
The firm also denied that the staff were rude. The statement added: “We are confident that Air Arabia’s crew acted with complete professionalism. We regret any distress experienced by Mr Ahmed’s daughter, but Air Arabia cannot compromise when it comes to safety.”
myra@7days.ae
Comments
by spock
Monday, February 11 2013, 8:42AM
“I appeal to all to boycott air arabia till they apologize to the girl in public!! as in name of professionalism a word too often bandied about by gulf management to hide their true intention -they should apologize and even compensate the family for hurt caused by their "professional" inhuman attitude. The daughter wasn't hidden her disability was obvious and probably mentioned by the parents when booking the exit ticket the culprit if any was the person who issued the ticket you don't expect the passengers to know all the fine print rules and regulations which normally cannot be read by a naked eye and is only printed to safeguard the legal rights of so called unethical professional establishments!!!”
by spock
Monday, February 11 2013, 8:39AM
“I appeal to all to boycott air arabia till they apologize to the girl in public!! as in name of professionalism a word too often quoted by gulf management to hide their true intention -they should apologize and even compensate the family for hurt caused by their "professional" inhuman attitude. The daughter wasn't hidden her disability was obvious and probably mentioned by the parents when booking the exit ticket the culprit if any was the person who issued the ticket you don't expect the passengers to know all the fine print rules and regulations which normally cannot be read by a naked eye and is only printed to safeguard the legal rights of so called unethical professional establishments!!!”
by Michael Markos
Sunday, February 10 2013, 5:23PM
“Dear Mr Rafi Ahmed your wife Saleha and your daughter Hana, I'm very sorry to hear of your situation and what happened. I have read all the above and peoples comments along Air Arabia's comments.
I find the whole thing upsetting as I see you too have found it. What I can say is that I understand both yours and the airlines point of view, it appears to me that in authoritarian way many be the situation was not handled in the most delicate and understanding manner. We are all understanding people, we all suffer pressure of work and we need to take that in account.
Here Mr Rafi and his family had requested particular seats as we all know these seats have a little more leg room etc. hence the desire. I myself fly aircarft for fun, a pilot is termed 'PILOT IN COMMAND' (PIC) he carries full responsibility for the lives of all on board and the mutimillion dollar aircraft, please understand that even if air-traffic-control is wrong and the pilot follows what he is instructed 'he will be held to account for following said instructions'. I was given ATC clearance and a heading that was 1500ft to which i repied 'negative' and re-requested 5,500ft, it was not understood until I pointed out that I needed to safely clear the 3600ft mountains in the heading (direction of flight).
There is only one authority on-board it is the Captian, now these seats as pointed out have to occupied by persons who are able to assist in the event of an emergency, I'm sure that if things were explained in a proper and polite manner to Mr Rafi and his family they would not have had any issues or objections.
As Pilot-in-Command he must follow GCAA regulations otherwise he is placing people at risk everyone, so its his duty and responsibility. He is the one who will be held to account and no one else. The aircrew have to report anything to him 'the emergency-exists-are-on-his-preflight-check list' 'as-is-the-seat-occupancy' he has tick-it-off and sign it, copy to ground staff for records, yes he is responsible and carries the responsibilty, no PIC is negligent and all are liable for their actions.
Have you see a man/woman with 4 gold lines on his sholders and 4 gold lines on his/hers jacket cuff's walking around the aircraft he is the PIC he is looking at the aircraft, he is casting a very expirenced eye over it, you will be surprised what a PIC see that even the maintenance and ground crew have not noted. the PIC has the authority to cancel the flight, remove anyone or anything from the aircarft before proceeding, he can redirect the fight, regardless of costs, he is responsible and the authority.
hope the help all in a better understand for the good of who fly God Bless and watch over us all.
the PIC is at fault”
by DENNIS ARIMPUR
Sunday, February 10 2013, 10:14AM
“AIR ARABIA IS A VERY RESPECTABLE AND PROFESSIONAL AIRLINE, BUT UNFORTUNATELY SOME VERY STUPID AND UNPROFESSIONAL STAFF MAKE IT THROUGH THE AIRLINE FILTERS AND GET RECRUITED BY THE AIRLINE AND IT IS PURELY THESE UNCOUTH CHARACTERS THAT TARNISH THE AIRLINE REPUTATION BY BEHAVING RUDELY AND INSENSITIVELY TO THE PASSENGERS... THIS CABIN CREW SHOULD BE GIVEN A WARNING LETTER, A TWO WEEK SUSPENSION WITHOUT PAY AND THE THREE HARASSED PASSENGERS BE GIVEN A FULL UNCONDITIONAL REFUND OR 3 RETURN TICKETS IMMEDIATELY, ALONG WITH A SINCERE APOLOGY FROM THE AIRLINE...TO SAVE FACE AND DO DAMAGE CONTROL....................PERIOD.”
by conspiracyof1
Sunday, May 06 2012, 9:07PM
“Before everyone jumps the gun, you are aware that the people sitting in the emergency exit seats are all required to know how to and be able to assist in opening the exit in the case of emergency? There is a degree of responsibility for other passengers that comes with that seat.
I can agree that perhaps the staff could have been nicer about it, but at the end of the day the family were refusing to move and delaying the flight. How could the staff put it? "Excuse me, but your daughter seems to be mentally disabled (or is it challenged?) and unfortunately we need you to move since these seats can only be occupied by people without such disabilities." I'm not sure which sounds worse..
I think the family comes off as more inconsiderate than the airline staff.”
by michaeldubai
Sunday, April 29 2012, 5:39PM
“I am surprised the way Air Arabia blindly defend their staff without any investigation. This is extremely poor management and they will fall in serious trouble one day.”
by Fbijad
Sunday, April 29 2012, 12:13PM
“They may have been following "standard procedure" but it is no excuse for behaving so rudely. Once when I was on a flight I was asked to exchange seats with another person because he could not understand the emergency instructions in English. And it was all done very politely, no personal attacks. That First Officer needs to be dealt with appropriately. I can understand how the family must have been feeling in that situation being a mother of a teen with Down Syndrome myself.”
by rubaiyatr
Sunday, April 29 2012, 10:11AM
“Only a parent of a special needs child would know how insulting the cabin crew has been. Very sad situation indeed!! Having experienced similar situation (some teens were sitting in bulkhead rows, where our daughter was supposed to sit). The only exception is that the cabin crew (including the captain and ground crew) totally played a crucial role (in a positive way) to resolve the situation. Was so prompted to call on cops once we reached Houston, but I guess, the rude teens felt they have a right to act rudely.... Let's just pray that our special children have a smile on their faces, that is all we ask for!!”
by hasan5
Saturday, April 28 2012, 4:20PM
“I'm extremely surprised with how this situation has been portrayed as if Air Arabia has nothing to be sorry for. They are completely inconsiderate, utterly insensitive, and absolutely indifferent towards the feelings of loving parents who do everything they can to take care of their disabled daughter. If the cabin and crew handled the situation with more care and respect, I am sure this could have been resolved a lot better. Instead, their discrimination has lead Mr. Ahmed and his family to feel belittled and shocked by their lack of knowledge and professionalism. Air Arabia is simply proving that it is indeed an airline that is at the bottom of a traveler's choice list when flying, and if they continue to behave like this they will never make it. I will certainly never consider flying this airline, and will never recommend it to anyone... even if it is for free.”
by FaisalAnwar
Thursday, April 26 2012, 6:34PM
“"Look at your daughter... you still want an explanation? Isn't it obvious?" This one line towards disabled teen and her mother is good enough for Air Arabia to launch comprehensive investigation and revisit their 'code of conduct' Service doesn't mean advising clients on safety regulations & procedures but it extends to courtesy and appropriate behaviour towards clients. I will remain concerned and would request family & friends specially parents with disabled children to be extra vigilant while planning travel with Air Arabia, unless Air Arabia comes up with credible explanation in public domain and apologize to Hana Ahmed.”