Chicken Pox, AirAsia and Denied Boarding

[affendi osman 0]

I quoted this from Mazidul Akmal's blog, where there was a mother and her son with chicken pox. They were denied to board AK's flight from SGN to KUL recently.

 

http://www.mazidulakmal.com/2013/05/ibu-dan-bayi-sengsara-di-vietnam-air.html

 

My question is, are there any policies or regulations that actually been used by airlines to handle such cases?

 

IMHO, this Mazidul is exaggerating in his writings.

[Y. J. Foo 0]

AK denies someone with chickenpox boarding, AK-haters blog hate speech, screaming along the lines of 'inhumane', 'inconsiderate' etc. for not allowing someone to go home and get proper treatment back home.

 

AK allows someone with chickenpox boarding, AK-haters blog hate speech, screaming along the lines of 'reckless', 'money sucker' etc. for risking other passengers over someone who has contagious disease that can be possibly fatal.

 

Either way someone will ready their artillery and fire away. Best they can do is do in accordance to the law and regulations.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

I think AK's policy is correct in that the baby has an acute contagious disease, but only fault is the conduct of the ground crew - they could have practiced a little more empathy instead of being cold & too by the book.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Had a conversation about this matter over FB with a friend:

 

 

imo, si izan tu yg salah.

 

me too

and mazidul tu exaggerate

sebab sah2 la bukan airasia staff yang kat airport tu

tu vietnam airport authority

handling agent for AK di ho chi minh

kan

in d first place, anak baru baik chicpox buat apa di bawak berjalan.

orang malaysia dan shopping tak dapat dipisahkan

ni mesti set2 yg beli tix murah like setahun in advance

pastu siap takdak duit spare

kejadahnya

 

pastu bila anak sakit sayang nak cancel tix tu

so pegi jugak sebab xnak rugi

pastu travel insurance x amik

and pastu, yang ahli keluarga 12 orang tu, sorang pun xnak tunggu izan kat saigon

pelik aku. ahli keluarga kan?

nampak sangat ahli keluarga semua xnak rugi kena bayar tix baru kalau missed the flight

 

nasib lahhhh

boleh tengok la sapa keluarga sapa kawan

eheh

betol la kata lagu kasihnya ibu tuu

kasihnya saudara masa beradaaaaaa

 

 

Drama solved. Malaysian Embassy in Saigon comes to the rescue.

 

 

And as always, it got politicized.

 

 

Azran Osman Rani had nothing to do with AK and SGN but still dragged up.

[affendi osman 0]

latest news

MH agrees to fly them back to KUL

[Mohd Firdaus Bolong 0]

chicken pox is highly contagious during the 1-2 days before the eruptions until all the vesicles are crusted over. We don't know which phase of the chicken pox was and also if there's any medical personnel that dictates the decision of AK in vietnam.

[Nor Batrisya 0]

Coincedence with the latest controversy surrounding AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani statement on Utusan and some political party call for boycott on AirAsia ?

 

Veteran Umno arah anggota boikot AirAsia, AirAsia X

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/230565

[flee 5]

Yes, I think AK is correct to keep them under quarantine. Its no fun if other passengers on the flight caught the infectious disease as a result, not to mention AK's legal liability.

 

This sort of case should not cause too much drama if the passenger had bought a proper travel insurance policy as these sort of medical emergencies are covered under travel insurance routinely.

[Walter Sim 1]

It is stated in the Conditions of Carriage when you buy the ticket (who reads them i know) that the carrier has rights to offload a passenger who has or is suspected of suffering from a contagious disease.

 

As such I agree with Suhaimi, A little empathy or human touch would make the situation much more tolerable. Plus, even if the kid has recovered from chicken pox, he/she will need a doctor's letter stating so.

[Isaac 0]

As Firdaus said, chicken pox is highly contagious and can be fatal. Someone I am very close with had a miscarriage in her 4th month of pregnancy due to chicken pox. So I think AK made the right decision.

[Radzi 2]

An airline has the right to deny boarding of any passenger with contagious disease.

 

Whether a person is contagious or not can only be determined by a trained medical personnel.

[Dr Chuo Hock Tieng 0]

An airline has the right to deny boarding of any passenger with contagious disease.

 

Whether a person is contagious or not can only be determined by a trained medical personnel.

 

how to 'like' this comment??

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

[Luke Lim 0]

sikit skiit mau boi kot bodohnya.

[affendi osman 0]

 

couldn't agree more....

I blame those overpampered Malaysians for this kind of behavior......

[Rozhan 0]

And the woman concerned was pictured crying while clutching some money and the child... to dramatize the incident. Sikit sikit menangis...!

 

Nobody wants to get infected in an airplane. Reminds me of the SARS epidemic

[N Azman 0]

More often than not the difference between PR heaven and hell, is just the manner in which policy is executed. Not the policy itself.

 

In this case I think AK did the right thing. Whether or not they appeared mean/heartless? nobody knows.

 

Some years ago I was on a flight in Europe where an almost similar event occured. The captain himself came out, and spoke to the mother, cradled the baby, hugged the mother, shook hands with some passengers, and passed the case on to the ground staff 5 minutes later. Mother sobbed, but nodded in agreement with solution. Some pics snapped.

 

Voila, PR heaven.

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

From AK's FB page.

 

 

[AirAsia Statement]

Referring to the issue raised in social media in regards to the guest denied boarding flight AK1455 from Ho Chi Minh to Kuala Lumpur, we wish to clarify that the guest was not allowed on board because the child had chicken pox. This was confirmed by the Vietnam airport doctor on duty who declared the baby unfit to fly.

On being informed the situation of the guest, AirAsia has made arrangements to fly back the mother and the baby as well as 2 accompanying adults for free, once the child is declared fit to fly by the doctor.

AirAsia is following global health standards in which guests with chicken pox may only travel 5 days after the rash first appeared, providing the spots are scabbed over. This is to be supported by a medical certificate or doctor's letter confirming you are fit to fly.

As per guideline established by World Health Organisation (WHO); to minimize the risk of passing on infections, passengers who are unwell, particularly if they have a fever, should delay their journey until they have recovered. Passengers with a known active communicable disease should not travel by air.

We advise that passengers travelling with any infectious illness such as chickenpox, rubella, measles or mumps check our website about the guidance to whether you can fly.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Sri Ramani K.

[Mulyadir Fitri 0]

This is the same guy who fabricated a video depicting a superbiker doing a wheelie on PLUS and showed it on Majalah 3, a supposedly factual programme. He then shut down his twitter account after backlash from superbikers in Malaysia. He is in the same league as the goons in Utusan lah.

[affendi osman 0]

From AK's FB page.

 

I personally think AK is doing the right thing by denying the baby to fly.

 

But I wonder, they traveled in group of 12, none of them volunteered to stay behind with the mother?

[M. Sofian H. 0]

Aduhai... Where is your csr??? .. This mother cry before she didn't enough money to stay. Ak = inhuman. Btw i aggre if ak deny the person who has chickenpox sintom to fly. Next time pls consider the ground facilities for this kind of case.

 

Sad....

[affendi osman 0]

Aduhai... Where is your csr??? .. This mother cry before she didn't enough money to stay. Ak = inhuman. Btw i aggre if ak deny the person who has chickenpox sintom to fly. Next time pls consider the ground facilities for this kind of case.

 

Sad....

 

Sofian

 

In my opinion, if we were to travel anywhere, everywhere in the world, we must ensure that we have extra money to spare in our pockets. Mishaps happen everywhere, anywhere. Again, AK is not a charity-based company.

 

CSR is not about compensating crying mother with her baby......it is way beyond than that.

 

Thank God they did not fly Ryan or Easy.....otherwise, Mazidul needed to write more!

Edited May 19, 2013 by affendi osman

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

The most "inhumane" part of the whole incident is the other 11 family members, who gave the lady a "good luck, all the best, nasiblah kau pompuan, jumpa kat rumah nanti, ok bye" treatment.

[Sharil Abdul Rahman 0]

My only question was - they know the kid had chicken pox.

 

Why didnt the staff in LCCT spotted that then they were going from KUL?

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Everyone's "favourite" newspaper has picked up the story

 

MAS, Tourism Malaysia selamatkan ibu dan bayi di Ho Chi Minh

 

Artikel Penuh: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Dalam_Negeri/20130520/dn_14/MAS-Tourism-Malaysia-selamatkan-ibu-dan-bayi-di-Ho-Chi-Minh#ixzz2TnGSdOpL