Chicken Pox, AirAsia and Denied Boarding

[Johan Z 0]

My mum always said, Kalau nak jalan tinggal lah anak kecil kat rumah. Kalau nak bawa juga tunggu dia besar sikit.

I remember Mazidul was arrested before for possesion of drug. Or was it false alarm?

[M. Sofian H. 0]

 

 

From Mazidul Blog

[Walter Sim 1]

She should've obtained that letter before the flight, the ground would not have denied her boarding

[KK Lee 5]

 

 

From Mazidul Blog

 

Wonder when did she traveled to SGN?

[Cheng Long 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?

 

The staff in Vietnam have sharper eyes.

[Fairul 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....

 

CSR??? common...don't exaggerate this whole issue..the mum should take the blame..period...why bother to drag the kid along to buy kain baju raya at Ben Tanh market if she knew that the kid is down with chicken pox?

[Waiping 12]

Hey look, the teary front-page earn them a return flight free-of-charge, even on MH! I wonder if they would have the whole business class to themselves. Cheapskate, eh?

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

7.3
Passengers with reduced mobility/medical condition: For safety reasons AirAsia can carry only a maximum of 4 passengers per flight who have reduced mobility* provided that quadriplegic passengers are limited to not more than 2 per flight. Under certain circumstances we may require the passenger to travel with a companion. Please refer to 7.3.1 (Travel with a Companion).

* “reduced mobility” refers to paraplegic or quadriplegic passengers.

Unless otherwise determined by us, passengers with a medical condition / illnesses are required to produce a valid medical certificate dated no more than 7 days from the date of travel and sign a Limited Liability Statement upon check in confirming that they are fit to travel. For the safety of other passengers we reserve the right to deny boarding passengers suffering from infectious, contagious or chronic diseases at our sole discretion.

Passengers with specific requirements requiring special assistance and passengers with medical conditions / illnesses including those that may require administering or carrying medication / syringes onboard are requested to contact us via our live web chat or our call center at least 48 hours before the scheduled flight departure date to make prior arrangement for the type of special assistance required. Failure to notify us will result in the service being unavailable upon your arrival at the airport and you being refused carriage. For health and safety reasons passengers with specific requirements must check-in at the airport.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Unless otherwise determined by us, passengers with a medical condition / illnesses are required to produce a valid medical certificate dated no more than 7 days from the date of travel and sign a Limited Liability Statement upon check in confirming that they are fit to travel. For the safety of other passengers we reserve the right to deny boarding passengers suffering from infectious, contagious or chronic diseases at our sole discretion.

 

And yet they managed to fly to Vietnam - remember, baby Maryam was sick before the trip to Vietnam, not during.

 

AirAsia should take some of the blame for while it is correct of them to deny boarding, they should have denied her from boarding in KUL. At least if they did that she wouldn't have faced the aggravation of being left alone in a foreign country especially a country where one must contend with the language barrier (and before you belittle her family for leaving her in a lurch, consider this - perhaps they didn't stay back because they couldn't afford to splash hundreds of ringgits for a replacement ticket. Since it's AirAsia passengers we're talking about here maybe these people had saved up for the trip and didn't have too much contingency money to spare)

 

In essence, while I agree to the policy (it's standard policy everywhere), the application of the policy leaves a lot to be desired.

[V Wong 0]

In chicken pox, the preceding symptoms are usually unrecognized, until the characteristic vesicles erupt. These symptoms include malaise, poor appetite and moderate temperature. Bear in mind that the patient is a young child with disability, clearly dysmorphic from the pictures shown. Thus her ability to communicate the symptoms is worse compared to a normal toddler. Only after 2-3 days of prodromal symptoms do the vesicles appear. However it appears in crops, ie affecting different parts of the body in succession, cumulatively. Eruptions continue to occur for about 5 days after the first crop appear. Thus it is not easy to recognize the disease by a lay person during the first few days of the disease. Only after the full eruption has appeared that most lay person would be able to make a diagnosis of chicken pox. Infectivity period is 2 days prior to rash (ie during prodrome) and until all the vesicles had crusted.

 

We really do not know at which stage of disease this patient boarded the flight in LCCT. The doctor's certificate mention D6 of illness on 19th May 2013, and that she was no longer contagious, which was questionable because most children are still contagious at D6 of illness. Most paediatricians count first day of fever as the first day of illness. I assume the doctor started counting the first day of illness as the day the first crop appeared, in which case six days is a reasonable period of time for all the vesicles to have crusted, thus no longer contagious. It also means that the child had likely developed the prodromal symptoms without rash (or had her first crop of vesicles) when she boarded the flight to HCMC.

 

It was a sad episode with a lot of drama, confusion and emotional turmoil. We should really reserve our judgement on any party unless we know the real situation. However, the real victim is the poor child - disabled, sick, defenceless and subjected to such an ordeal.

Edited May 21, 2013 by V Wong

[KK Lee 5]

Utusan escalates attack on AirAsia

 

 

Utusan Malaysia has expanded its criticism of AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman Rani to the low-cost carrier itself, dedicating one full page to negative reports today.

The Umno-owned newspaper quoted several individuals including Consumer Association of Subang and Shah Alam president Jacob George and Malaysia Muslim Consumer Association activist Mohd Mustaffa Hamzah in a report headlined ‘AirAsia censured’.

This was a reference to the case of Izan Suhaila Mohd Ali, 36, and her 14-month-old daughter Mariam Sofea Mohd Reza who were not allowed to board an AirAsia flight at Ho Chi Minh airport in Vietnam to return home last Saturday.

AirAsia had explained that it followed international guidelines in rejecting the duo as a doctor had diagnosed the baby with chicken pox.

The rival Malaysian Airlines, which later flew the duo back, claimed that another doctor confirmed that the baby could be taken on board the aircraft as she had recovered from the disease.

Another report headlined ‘AirAsia's excuse disputed by consumers’ quoted posts by Internet users on the airline's Facebook webpage, rebutting its explanation.

Describing the airline’s treatment of the mother and child as “inhumane”, the daily cited a blog posting by TV3 journalist Mazidul Akmal Sidek who slammed AirAsia group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes for defending his employees.

The daily also interviewed Kedah-based NGO leader Khairul Anuar Ramli who demanded that AirAsia chairperson Rafidah Aziz apologises on behalf of Azran(left) for his criticism of Utusan.

Last week Azran Osman had described the daily as ‘racist’ because of its crude front page headline 'Apa lagi Cina mahu' (What more do the Chinese want) on May 7. He also said that Malay rights group Perkasa is narrow-minded and had caused the Malays to be left behind.

Since then, the newspaper has embarked on a scathing attackagainst Azran and AirAsia.

For instance, in a column written by its editors under the pseudonum ‘Awang Selamat’, it suggested that advertisements from AirAsia should be rejected until Azran apologises.

It claimed that AirAsia's advertisements are “cheaper than advertisements of traditional supplement and hair treatment”.

Utusan also highlighted the Twittercomments by prominent Malay businessman Kalimullah Hassan(right) who defended Azran.

“Only the bigots will find comments like that of Azran Osman Rani offensive. He is a true Malaysian,” said the ex-New Straits Times group editor-in-chief.

“I wonder sometimes under which rock some of these Utusanpersonalities crawled out from. Must be a real sank [sic] dark place.”

Azran, who had claimed that his comments were blown out of proportion, refused comment when contacted.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/230745

[Waiping 12]

Journalism ethics, anyone?

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Journalism ethics, anyone?

Fox News has much, much more credibility and integrity than this pile of reviled thing. Calling it 'trash' would be insulting to actual trash.

[Amirul Mazlan 0]

Utusan is at it again. Zero integrity. Zero tolerance for those who are against them and their paymaster. Often getting away scott-free, almost every time. Lost few court cases which compensation amounting to millions of ringgit, to which, means nothing to them. Never learn. Very arrogant piece of $hit.

[Cire 0]

Good call by AirAsia. Don't have the actual situation on the ground, but I hope AirAsia will have more tactful ground staffs to handle unforseen circumstances such as this.

Many a times, some of us would have encountered ground crews of good airlines that just doesn't practices what it said. Most of the overseas ground crews are locals there, and their work ethics and atitude is never the same as the home country of the airlines.

MAS have wonderful hospitality in Malaysia, but overseas, they rated no better than anyone else. Gone are the Asian feel and engagement. In are the rude cool and tactless beings.

 

Hope the airlines realises this.., especially those from the Asian regions..

[reezal 0]

Malaysia Airlines helps mum, child

 

 

BACK HOME: Infant had been prevented from boarding flight home by AirAsia because of 'health risks'

KUALA LUMPUR: MALAYSIA Airlines has flown home a mother and her 14-month-old daughter who were prevented from boarding an AirAsia flight back home from Vietnam.

Izan Suhaila Mohd Ali, 36, and her daughter, Mariam Sofea Mohd Reza, were held back by AirAsia staff at the Ho Chi Minh airport on Saturday night after the latter was suspected of having chicken pox and deemed a health risk to other passengers.

Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said Malaysia Airlines learned about Izan's predicament from Tourism Malaysia.

"As it is a standard procedure for all passengers with symptoms of contagious disease to get a fit-to-fly certification from a doctor, we made the decision to take Mariam to a doctor. This is to ensure that no one passenger puts the health of another passenger at risk."

He said Malaysia Airlines staff picked up the two from the hotel they were staying to a clinic.

"A doctor examined the baby and confirmed she was no longer contagious. It was confirmed that the black spots she had were actually dry scabs.

"Immediately after that, our staff worked on preparing travel documents for Izan, Mariam and two other relatives. They were booked on flight MH759 that departed Ho Chi Minh so that they did not have to spend another night in Ho Chi Minh and incur more costs."

He said Malaysia Airlines staff based there drove the family back to the airport from the hotel for a quick check-in and they boarded the flight and departed Ho Chi Minh at 4.40pm yesterday.

Jauhari said that the safety of passengers had always been a priority and thus, all measures were taken to help Izan and her baby, while at the same time, ensuring other passengers' health were not put at risk.

"The ability of our team in Ho Chi Minh to act beyond their normal duties was praiseworthy.

"They went out of their way in displaying a true spirit of compassion and empathy. I would like to thank all the staff involved in helping the mother and her daughter."

Meanwhile, AirAsia Bhd chief executive officer Aireen Omar said the company had exercised its responsibility to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of its passengers were taken care of.

It also reserved the right to deny boarding passengers suffering from communicable or chronic diseases at its discretion.

"AirAsia adheres to global health regulations and standards in which a guest with chicken pox may only travel five days after the first symptom (rash) appears and must possess a valid medical certificate or doctors's letter to confirm that the guest is fit to travel," she said in a statement.

Aireen said that the guidelines, established by the World Health Organisation, were to avoid jeopardising the health of the other 175 guests on board the flight.

Aireen said AirAsia's ground representatives had provided the necessary assistance to the mother and her child and made arrangements to fly them back, as well as two accompanying adults, for free once the child was deemed medically fit to fly.

She said they were offered hotel and transportation arrangements.

Izan's sister, Norhamiza Mohd Ali, 53, had claimed that the AirAsia ground staff only dropped Izan and her baby off at a nearby taxi stand and did little to help other than agreeing to have her sent to a hospital or hotel.

Norhamiza also said fellow passengers at the waiting area of the airport donated money to Izan after witnessing her predicament.

Izan's case was highlighted by TV3 executive producer Mazidul Akmal Sidik, who witnessed the incident, on his blog on Sunday. He said he tried pleading with the airline staff to reconsider their decision but to no avail.

 

SOURCE: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/malaysia-airlines-helps-mum-child-1.283107

[kandiah k 0]

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.

 

 

Yes exactly! Despite having the contacts who assisted them (in NYC and Tourism Malaysia), the rest of the family left the mother and child to fend for themselves while they boarded the plane (with their shopping items and their dignity was somewhere stranded!) Wonder what it would have been like if that journalist was travelling with a child of his/her own on the same flight, perhaps seated next to them.

 

Just because MH came to the rescue, does that mean that they did the right thing? What kind of a parent would take their child who is down with chicken pox to shop and then fly back, disregarding the contagious effect to the others, who might have low immune system or even young babies who are exposed to it? It is interesting how one looks at this whole incident and blames the airline for following the procedure rather than looking at the bigger picture of the responsibility of the passenger before travelling. Some compassion must be shown at this point but only to offer options to the affected passengers and that is it. If it was another airline, it would not have gone so viral I suppose. Just my two cents

[Cire 0]

MH's actions is still commendable whether as a humane gesture or for some recognitions mileage efforts. MH have shown the "care" side of Malaysia, and in way won some hearts over.

It could have been on a schedule flight to and fro Vietnam,and Tourism board called for a favor, and it was granted.

I am sure in other similar circumstances, AirAsia too would have done the same to a fellow Malaysian in distress.

 

Nevertheless, we cannot conclude who is right or wrong as the details are still pretty sketchy and overwelmed by the sobbing story and dramatized blogging.

[Walter Sim 1]

And the spotlight continues..

 

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Dalam_Negeri/20130522/dn_11/AirAsia-enggan-bawa-pulang-jenazah-dari-Jogjakarta

 

 

 

 

AirAsia enggan bawa pulang jenazah dari Jogjakarta

 

PUTRAJAYA 21 Mei - Perkhidmatan syarikat penerbangan murah AirAsia sekali lagi menjadi perhatian umum berikutan keputusan syarikat itu enggan mengangkut pulang jenazah seorang wanita dari Jogjakarta ke negara ini.

Tindakan AirAsia memberi alasan 'tiada perkhidmatan menghantar pulang jenazah' menyebabkan waris wanita terpaksa membawa jenazah terlebih dulu menggunakan pesawat dari Jogjakarta ke Jakarta untuk menaiki Penerbangan Malaysia ke Kuala Lumpur malam ini.

 

Jenazah Fatimah Sudin, 71, tiba di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) dekat sini kira-kira pukul 9.30 malam. Warga emas itu meninggal dunia kira-kira pukul 2.50 petang semalam di Rumah Sakit JIH, Jogjakarta kerana masalah jantung.

 

Anak Allahyarham yang enggan namanya disiarkan ketika dihubungi Utusan Malaysia memberitahu, ibunya bersama sekumpulan rakyat Malaysia berangkat ke Jogjakarta menggunakan penerbangan AirAsia Jumaat lalu dan sepatutnya kembali ke tanah air pagi ini menggunakan penerbangan yang sama.

''Oleh kerana ibu saya menaiki pesawat AirAsia, maka ejen di Jogjakarta terus menghubungi syarikat tersebut untuk urusan penghantaran balik jenazah ibu saya. Bagaimanapun, ejen tersebut dimaklumkan AirAsia tidak menyediakan perkhidmatan seumpama itu,'' katanya.

 

Dia yang terbang ke Jogjakarta sebaik mengetahui keadaan ibunya sedang tenat di Unit Rawatan Rapi (ICU) Rumah Sakit JIH berkata, beliau sempat melihat keadaan ibunya yang sedang koma kira-kira pukul 1.50 petang semalam dan membacakan surah Yasin sebelum Allahyarham menghembuskan nafas terakhir sejam selepas itu.

Dia berkata, selepas ibunya meninggal dunia dan dimaklumkan bahawa AirAsia tidak menyediakan perkhidmatan penghantaran jenazah, ejen di Jogjakarta menghubungi MAS untuk urusan tersebut.

Bagaimanapun katanya, oleh kerana MAS tidak mempunyai penerbangan terus Jogjakarta ke KLIA, pihaknya terpaksa menguruskan penghantaran jenazah menerusi penerbangan Garuda ke Jakarta terlebih dahulu sebelum MAS dapat mengendalikan urusan tersebut sehingga selesai.

 

Menurutnya, pada petang Ahad lalu ibunya mengalami muntah-muntah ketika berada di dalam bas sebaik sahaja rombongan tersebut selesai menjamu juadah.

 

''Apabila tiba di hotel keadaan ibu saya semakin teruk, dan Allahyarham dimasukkan ke Rumah Sakit JIH. Doktor di sana memaklumkan ibu saya koma dan diserang angin ahmar selain mengalami masalah saluran darah tersumbat menyebabkan beliau tidak sedar.

 

''Allahyarham kemudian ditempatkan di Unit Rawatan Rapi hospital tersebut sehinggalah saya tiba semalam,'' katanya.

Jenazah akan dikebumikan di tanah perkuburan Seksyen 21, Shah Alam, Selangor.

 

Sementara itu, seorang pegawai AirAsia yang dihubungi memberitahu sebab syarikat itu tidak membawa jenazah adalah kerana mereka 'tidak mempunyai lesen' untuk berbuat demikian.

 

In a nutshell : AirAsia refuses to carry casket back to KL from Jogjakarta. Had to be flown to Jakarta on Garuda and back to KUL on MAS.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Walter Sim

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

And the spotlight continues..

 

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Dalam_Negeri/20130522/dn_11/AirAsia-enggan-bawa-pulang-jenazah-dari-Jogjakarta

 

In a nutshell : AirAsia refuses to carry casket back to KL from Jogjakarta. Had to be flown to Jakarta on Garuda and back to KUL on MAS.

 

 

Hell hath no fury like a newspaper scorned!

Edited May 22, 2013 by Mohd Suhaimi Fariz

[affendi osman 0]

next?

Nasi Lemak Air Asia MAHAL

[Ja Singh 2]

MH's actions is still commendable whether as a humane gesture or for some recognitions mileage efforts. MH have shown the "care" side of Malaysia, and in way won some hearts over.

It could have been on a schedule flight to and fro Vietnam,and Tourism board called for a favor, and it was granted.

I am sure in other similar circumstances, AirAsia too would have done the same to a fellow Malaysian in distress.

 

Nevertheless, we cannot conclude who is right or wrong as the details are still pretty sketchy and overwelmed by the sobbing story and dramatized blogging.

the only way to carry pax with c pox infection is to have an aircraft to themselves. So I believe that is what MH would have done,for her to charter a plane.. Otherwise is unjustice to the rest of the 150 pax flying along. I have personally denied boading to pax with c pox here in NZ and explained reasons. No dramas.

[Mulyadir Fitri 0]

With regarda to the Jogja incident, do you really need special licence to carry human remains?

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

With regarda to the Jogja incident, do you really need special licence to carry human remains?

Yes if I'm not mistaken, it's standard practice even if you're transporting human remains out of Malaysia.

 

That is why it costs so much.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

And the spotlight continues..

 

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/Dalam_Negeri/20130522/dn_11/AirAsia-enggan-bawa-pulang-jenazah-dari-Jogjakarta

 

In a nutshell : AirAsia refuses to carry casket back to KL from Jogjakarta. Had to be flown to Jakarta on Garuda and back to KUL on MAS.

 

With regarda to the Jogja incident, do you really need special licence to carry human remains?

 

Yes if I'm not mistaken, it's standard practice even if you're transporting human remains out of Malaysia.

 

That is why it costs so much.

 

Thanks for the info. I did not know that an airline needs a special license to carry human remains as cargo. I thought it is treated just like any other organic cargo (animals, plants etc) since the remains will be sealed neatly in a casket.

 

I had first account experience in handling transportation of a remain of a colleague whom passed away in Pontianak, Indonesia back to his hometown in Batu Gajah. Arrangement was made with MH at KCH.