Rosaviatsia named overbooking as the reason for Pobeda's refusal to board a disabled child on a flight

The Federal Air Transport Agency reported the preliminary results of an investigation into the refusal of a mother and her child, who suffers from cerebral palsy, to board a Pobeda airline flight. According to the department, the carrier refused the family due to overbooking - a situation in which the number of tickets sold exceeded the number of seats in the cabin.

As explained in the Federal Air Transport Agency, overbooking is used in the practice of foreign companies, but is contrary to the law in Russia, where rebooking is actually equated to fraud.

According to the documentation available to the Federal Air Transport Agency on the number of passengers transported, the lack of empty seats on board the aircraft was the actual reason for the refusal to register a mother with a disabled child for the airline flight.

Rosaviatsia considers the airline’s attempts to explain what happened to be extremely clumsy and ugly by saying that the passenger arrived at check-in two minutes before it closed.

Rosaviatsia

The Federal Air Transport Agency came to the conclusion that Pobeda was obliged to transport the mother and child on the exact flight for which the tickets were purchased.

The words of Pobeda Airlines representatives at the check-in counter are horrifying: “Everyone hates us, but they fly with us.”

Appeal of injured passengers to the Federal Air Transport Agency

The agency recommended that the airline conduct an internal investigation into the resale of tickets, bring those involved to justice and compensate passengers for moral damages before trial.

A mother and a child with a disability did not get on the flight on the night of April 15 from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to Yekaterinburg. According to the airline, due to the late arrival of passengers at the check-in counter, the carrier was unable to arrange their boarding.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the passenger informed Pobeda employees in advance about accompanying a child with a disability, and passengers arrived for check-in on time.

As a result of the incident, Pobeda fired the head of the ground support group for “incompetence in organizing the work process.” The Prosecutor General's Office and the Federal Air Transport Agency began an investigation.

in Russia There is no document that would legalize the sale of more tickets than there are seats on the flight. However, some Russian airlines, for example Aeroflot, are supporters of overbooking. Carriers use this tactic mainly for profit and to increase the load on flights.

arose in the United States In early April, a scandal around United Airlines, where police officers forcibly removed a man from a flight. He identified himself as a doctor and refused to leave the ship due to the need to arrive to see patients the next day. Later, the carrier made an official apology and announced a refund for tickets to all passengers on this flight.