Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (KSCDRC) has upheld an Ernakulam Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum order that directed Etihad to pay Rs 5 lakh for disallowing a minor passenger to board the flight.
As per the complaint filed by Sonia Francis of Kottayam, who was working as a nurse in Ireland, the airline staff disallowed her two-year-old son to come to Ireland stating that the authorisation letter that she produced was inadequate.
The incident happened in October 2010 and the complainant had left her two-year-old son Evelyn Bobby with her grandparents due to the intense winter in Ireland.
Two months later, when her mother-in-law Gracykutty arrived at the airport to board the Kochi-Dublin fight, Etihad officials disallowed them to board the flight. Two colleagues of the complainant identified as Shiby George and Ulahannan Thomas were also expected to accompany them on the flight.
According to the airliner, the authorization letter was not attested by the Indian Embassy in Dublin-Ireland. Therefore it was not a valid document.
Though norms state that the authorization to carry a minor passenger has to be attested from the concerned embassy, the airline had not informed the passenger inspite of knowing that one of the travellers was a minor. '
In response, the consumer forum quashed the appeal by the airliner. The family was represented by their lawyer S Reghukumar.
