Disabled woman wins lawsuit against airline

A disabled Russian woman has won a lawsuit against an airline company that forbade her taking her wheelchair inside of the aircraft cabin. The airline, which was slapped with a fine, said it would appeal the verdict. Meanwhile, another disabled person has accused the same airline of violating her rights in a similar incident.

The court ruling was announced on Friday, October 17. The Cheremushki District Court of Moscow ruled in favor of Moscow resident Natalya Prisetskaya against the S7 airlines company as "the airline had no right to ban the woman from flying on the grounds that there was no one accompanying her." The court also ordered the airline to pay the plaintiff 50,000 rubles (about $2,000) in moral damages - 20 times less than the sum that was demanded, but   Prisetskaya said she was satisfied with the decision.

The incident that prompted the court hearing took place in summer this year. Natalya Prisetskaya, an activist of the "Iniziativa" public organization that protects the rights of disabled persons, was traveling to the city of Vladikavkaz from airport Domodedovo in Moscow. Prisetskaya told reporters that she had planned the trip to meet the people who suffered in past wars and military conflicts and "had a lot of important appointments in the region."

A taxi driver, who brought Prisetskaya to the airport helped deliver her luggage to the check-in stand, and left. The woman registered her ticket herself and then visited the airport doctor who cleared her for the flight as required by the airport rules for all people using wheelchairs. Airport staff then seated Prisetskaya in a special narrow wheelchair and sent her own into the luggage compartment of the plane.

When Prisetskaya approached the aircraft, one of the airport workers went up into the cabin and told a stewardess to prepare a place for a wheelchair-bound passenger. The stewardess, who refused to give her name or to speak with Prisetskaya in person, said that she would not allow a disabled person inside of the plane without an accompanying person. After a short conversation, Prisetskaya's luggage was unloaded and the plane left without her. Speaking to press near the court building on Friday, Prisetskaya said that she felt very humiliated and helpless while stranded on a runway in a wheelchair in which she could not even move without help. "I am an adult, I can make an estimation of my health state without shifting the responsibility onto other people," she said.

Interestingly, Prisetskaya managed to fly to Vladikavkaz later the same day - her organization booked her another ticket with a different airline and she left from the Vnukovo airport without any obstruction. The woman told the press after the court session that she had flied several more times since the summer and never had any problems with flight attendants.

However, she motivated the lawsuit against the S7 by her fear of getting a new refusal which made the travel very complicated. She demanded that S7 is fined 500 000 rubles and also pays her 1 million rubles in moral damages.

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff but significantly reduced the amount of the fine and compensation. S7 was told to pay a fine of 25 thousand rubles and to compensate 50 thousand to Prisetskaya. The plaintiff said she was satisfied with the decision and very happy as she was concerned with the principle rather than material part of the problem.

A representative of the airline company said that they regretted that the incident had taken place, but insisted that they acted completely within the Federal Aviation Rules and were concerned by the passengers' safety. On Monday the airline announced that it would appeal the court ruling. 

On Tuesday, another disabled Russian said that her rights were violated by the S7 company. The Echo Moskvy radio quoted Tatyana Sedykh as saying that a stewardess took her crutch and walking cane and put them into the luggage compartment on a flight from Khabarovsk to Moscow. The woman had serious problems with walking inside of the cabin and had to spend a lot of time waiting for the airline staff to find her crutch after the arrival. The woman said she had not yet decided whether she would press charges. 

By Kirill Bessonov