FLY 540 At It Again, Throws Out Passenger With DISABILITY

Fly 540 crew gets aboard the plane

Fly 540 Aviation Company yet again finds itself in the wrong spotlight following discrimination claims by a physically handicapped client. Mr Muhib Noorani, the proprietor of Rocky Driving School, is the latest victim of a worrying trend of disdain for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) by the airline. Mr Muhib says that the airline’s staff in Eldoret denied him access to the aircraft because of his physical condition.

“I booked Fly 540 as I had been told there was no other flight. I checked in at 6.35pm, but they wouldn’t let me aboard. They didn’t give any explanation for the refusal. I was asked to look for other means to get to my destination and let the other passengers behind me check in,” he narrated in an emotional testimony.

“This is the first time I’ve been made aware of my disability. I had to speak out so that other citizens in a similar condition don’t have to go through such trauma. Disability is not inability, and we didn’t choose to be this way.”

Unpleasant history

This is not the first time a complaint has been lodged against the low-cost aircraft. A few months ago, another PwD- a paediatrician at Nyeri Provincial Hospital, complained of a ‘dark-skinned, very tall and intimidating’ Fly 540 pilot who had kicked her out of the aircraft claiming that she was going to delay everyone.

Dr Agnes Mithamo said that the pilot wouldn’t even let some volunteers help her up the stairs of the plane. “The pilot told me that he had the powers to decide whether I was going to use the aircraft or not. He ordered the men who had volunteered to help me aboard to take me back to the lounge. It was humiliating.”

In 2014, Bishop Jackson Kosgei, the current chairperson of Kenya Film Classification Board and father to musician Emmy Kosgei, was forced to crawl his way out of the aircraft after the staff blatantly refused to help him disembark.

The chairperson of Kenya Disability Parliamentary Association (KEPIDA), nominated MP Isaac Mwaura, has condemned such incidences and said that they will call for sterner actions such as suspension of the airline’s license since even parliamentary summons has failed to tame the practice. “We cannot allow systemic discrimination of Kenyans with disabilities,” Mr Mwaura has warned.

A Fly 450 response to a client on Facebook stating their policies on persons with disability

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