HYDERABAD: Ramnarayan Teja Sudani, a passenger travelling from the city to Bengaluru on an Air India Express flight, faced humiliation and distress when the airline staff uncourteously questioned his skin condition, psoriasis, during the baggage check-in.
Teja reported that the trouble started when the staff saw the rashes on his hands and asked what the issue was. He replied it was psoriasis and was not contagious. However, the staff members demanded medical documentation despite the passenger explaining that psoriasis was a non-contagious condition.
Teja said the situation worsened when one of the personnel insisted on a doctor's certificate to confirm that the passenger was fit to fly, despite the absence of prior notice regarding such a requirement. He presented previous prescriptions to demonstrate his condition. But, the staff treated him as if he were carrying a contagious disease and the questioning led to a 30-minute delay as they photographed his documents.
Teja said that when he requested to speak with a senior staff, A.V. Sharath Chandra arrived but dismissed the validity of the provided prescriptions due to the date on the document.
Teja also reported that the manager raised his voice and insisted on a doctor's certificate, which he found unreasonable given that psoriasis is a lifelong condition that does not require travel documentation.
"The airline's actions not only caused undue stress to me but also to my family. I was travelling with my wife and one-year-old child,” Teja said. After a long wait, the staff made some calls to check his travel history and allowed him to fly, passing a comment that they weren't responsible if the check-in security stopped him.
Teja was not stopped anywhere after the baggage check and boarded the flight. The passenger raised concerns about the discrimination and unprofessional conduct. When he tried to talk about this issue with the airline manager Avinash Kumar, he refused to respond and said he had other important work to attend to, according to the passenger.
