Indigo Airlines — Wife injured because of ground staff callousness and carelessness

Address:

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, 500010

The incident I am about to relate concerns total disregard of all safety norms, and the abject and absolute unprofessional conduct of Indigo staff. The attitude and behavior of their ground staff at Hyderabad was callous, ;careless and absolutely unbecoming of an airline.
My wife and I are both Senior Citizens had the following sectors as our vacation itinerary:
16th May - Hyderabad to Kochi - 6E 683 - INDIGO
19th May - Kochi to Calicut - IX 473 - AIR INDIA EXPRESS
23rd May - Calicut to Madras - 9W422/469 - JET AIRWAYS
26th May - Madras to Hyderabad - 6E 269 - INDIGO
Our gate for boarding at Hyderabad was #26. My wife has problems with her knees and is unable to use stairs or escalators and always chooses to use the lift. On arrival at the gate we discovered that at that particular gate there was no direct lift to the floor below. There was a slightly longer route and so I requested their staff for a wheelchair. She said she would leave a message for the staff who will supervise boarding and that I should inform them before boarding commences. Accordingly as soon as we arrived at the boarding gate I informed them and they agreed to provide a wheelchair. After the two boarding staff held a discussion they informed me that they were unable to help as we should have informed at the time of check in. I then informed the two that had I known about the non-availability of the lift I would have done exactly that. I requested them to help but both were adamant. When I said I would register a complaint with Indigo they were virtually goading me to do so and instead of trying to help they shouted their names to me.
We continued to wait and asked to speak to the supervisor. They contacted the supervisor who they said was coming but did not turn up. By this time the boarding was nearly over and when I raised my voice and demanded to see the duty officer they asked me if I wanted to go on this flight or by a later one. We had booked days in advance for this particular flight so why should we wish to go by a later flight?
By now boarding was over and these two were in a rush to close the counter. They said that if we wished to avoid delaying the flight we should leave by the escalator. We insisted that my wife cannot use the escalator. We were in Singapore for five years and never once did she able to use an escalator. We were standing between the steps and the escalator when one of them said that she would help her on the escalator. Before we could stop her she pulled my wife onto the escalator. I rushed in to help her but by then my wife fell and was dragged to the bottom. Since i was holding onto the travelling rail i did not fall but twisted from side to side and sprained my ankle. We have a very reliable witness to the entire incident. unfortunate
The two then managed to get the arrival door opened by requesting the security staff M/S Madhuri Kenekar who witnessed the entire incident. The duo said that normally the CISF personnel refuse to open the arrival door. M/s Kenekar assured us that whenever requested they open the door. She also mentioned that most airline staff do not like to have the door opened because to bring a passenger through that door from the floor above incurs a much longer walk for concerned staff. So the passenger pays with injuries for their staff's lackadaisical attitude to passenger safety.
My wife and I have suffered the ignominy of falling down and being dragged on the escalator resulting in leg and back injuries to my wife for which the treatment is still ongoing. It is by the Grace and Mercy of our Savior that we did not get permanently disabled.
We continued our journey to Calicut to rest in our house and cancelled the rest of the itinerary. The cancellations have cost us about twenty eight thousand rupees including the necessity of buying a ticket for both from Calicut to Hyderabad. Indigo have offered to reimburse us just the basic fares of the cancelled sectors. When we purchased the tickets we did not pay just the basic fare. If it had been a normal cancellation we would have . agreed. On our return sectors we travelled by Spice Jet which was a refreshing experience both with the ground staff and cabin crew.