Qatar Airways Leaves Breastfeeding Infant Stranded; Kerala Court Slaps Airline With Rs 10 Lakh Fine

A consumer commission in Kerala said Qatar Airways was guilty of poor service and unfair trade practices, after the airline wouldn’t allow a family’s two children which had a 10-month-old breastfeeding infant in it, along with the rest to board their return flight from Kochi to Italy, even though they had proper boarding passes in hand. In its July 14 order, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Ernakulam told the airline to pay the family Rs 10 lakh as compensation for the trouble and mental stress they went through, and also Rs 25,000 towards legal expenses.

Why Did Qatar Airways Refuse Boarding to a Breastfeeding Infant?

According to the court order, the complaint was lodged by Roshan Jose, an Indian who is living and working in Italy. Jose, along with his wife Vinaya, and their two kids, travelled from Venice to Kochi in November 2018 for a holiday. Before the trip, Qatar Airways reviewed all the travel documents and issued return tickets and boarding passes for the whole family, including their infant.

On December 3, 2018, the family arrived at Kochi airport for their return flight. They had to sit and wait at the check-in counter for nearly two and a half hours. Then, only about 10 minutes before departure, the airline did not issue a boarding pass for their six-year-old son, saying he did not have a separate visa. The parents and their 10 month old infant were eventually allowed to board, so the family ended up with no real choice but to leave the elder child behind with relatives at the airport, before going on to Doha.

But it was not really the end of it, because in Doha they met more trouble. Even though the infant had a valid boarding pass issued in Kochi, the airline did not permit the baby to board the connecting flight to Venice. After they waited for several hours with no proper explanation, they were told the child would not be travelling.

Since Vinaya had to go back to work in Italy, she flew to Venice alone. Jose then went back to Kochi with the infant, and the baby stayed in India with relatives for several weeks before finally returning to Italy. Jose also had to pay for all the added travel expenses.

What Did the Kerala Court Say About Qatar Airways’ Action?

The commission noted that Qatar Airways had already checked and approved the family’s travel documents before they flew from Venice to Kochi without raising any concerns. It said the airline’s decision to stop the children from boarding the return flight was unfair and completely arbitrary.

“The conduct of the opposite party in preventing a child from accompanying his parents on the return journey is wholly arbitrary and has shocked the conscience of this commission,” the bench observed.

“Having allowed the infant to travel from Venice to India, the subsequent refusal of a permit for the return journey from India on the very same set of documents is patently inconsistent, unjustified and highly reprehensible,” it further added.

“The mental agony, emotional trauma and untold hardship suffered by the parents were the direct and inevitable consequence of the wrongful conduct of the opposite party,” the commission noted.

The commission then directed Qatar Airways to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation for the mental agony and difficulties the family suffered. The airline was also directed to pay Rs 25,000 towards litigation costs.

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