Turkish Airlines and violation of disabilities’ bill of rights

Airline business, like any other, particularly the ones guided by international rules and regulations, should be totally practised based on strict compliance and  without any discrimination.

In other words, in providing services to passengers, any airline that is worth its salt should know that carrying out such services should be done in line with fairness, equity and justice without shifting the rules of the game based on racism or any bigotry.

To make all the principal actors in the business of flying, particularly the airlines on one side, and the passengers on the other end committed, there is what is called bill of rights which spells out a summary of fundamental rights and privileges guaranteed to a people, organisation or business.

While the making of such bills gives equal opportunities to all parties irrespective of their gender or colour, there is however, a group of special people whose rights when trampled upon often receive international reactions. This group of people falls under passengers with disability.

In view of their disability, which automatically hinders their mobility and effectiveness while engaging in air transport facilitation, this group of people have the special bill of right that must protect them against being maltreated.

As serious as the bill of rights for passengers with disability is treated in aviation, any airline, including its employees and contractors are not allowed to discriminate against an individual with a disability.

The bill protecting the disabled passengers specifically stipulated as follows: “For example, an airline may not refuse transportation or other services because of one’s disability or resulting appearance or involuntary behaviour. Airline personnel who deal with the travelling public must be trained to be aware of passengers with disabilities’ needs and how they can be accommodated safely and with dignity. Airline employees and contractors must receive refresher training at least once every three years. Complaints Resolution Officials (the airlines’ experts in resolving disability-related issues) must receive refresher training annually.”

Though the bill of right for passengers with disability, which spelt it out that airlines must go out of their ways to train their officials on how to handle passengers with disability as a way of treating them with respect, some airlines seem to be violating this sensitive bill.

Presently, Turkish Airlines is enmeshed in a mess with one of its Nigerian passengers, Ms Arinola Margaret Adeyileka, born with disability, who was subjected to untoward treatment in far away Istanbul by the officials of the airline.

According to the lawyers of the affected passenger, Pekun Sowole & Co, Adeyileka, who is a businesswoman and a frequent flyer on Turkish airlines, was verbally and emotionally abused by the airline officials in Istanbul without any consideration for her disability.

The passenger, who is wheelchair-bound, a member of the airline’s Miles & Smiles frequent flyer programme with membership No TK 526718516, suffered the uncivilised experience in April this year.

Besides damaging the only source of mobility for the passenger, the officials used racial slurs against her while she was left unattended to by the airline officials.

All efforts made by Adeyileka’s lawyers to the airline officials to investigate the case and compensate her proved abortive as she was treated as shabbily even at her status as a frequent flyer on the airline.

Following the failure of the airline to investigate and give justice to the passenger, her lawyers have demanded a compensation of over $6 million.

Turkish Airlines is notorious for treating its Nigerian passengers shabbily despite the unlimited privileges the airline enjoys here.

All hands are on the deck to see how the unjust victimisation of the affected passenger is handled. The only choice the airline has is to not only pay compensation to the passenger but tender an open apology to her. Above all, the Turkish airlines officials need a thorough training on how to manage passengers with disability and all its Nigerian passengers in general.

Failure to learn how to be civilised with Nigerian passengers as it does to other nationals across the world should be reciprocated by the Nigerian authorities in line with international laws against any airline that singles out citizens of other countries for discrimination.