Mom, 4-Month-Old Infant Allegedly Offloaded From Flight As Baby Didn't Stop Crying

A woman and her crying baby were allegedly removed from a flight after she struggled to calm down the child.

Lakshmi Devi, her husband and their 4-month-old baby were traveling from the southern Indian city of Chennai to New Delhi on a Vistara Airline flight Monday when the alleged incident took place. As the parents were consoling the child, they were asked to deboard by the flight staff as some co-passengers were "disturbed" by the baby's cries, local news outlet the News Minute reported.

The mother, who initially was not willing to exit the flight, eventually agreed. The flight was delayed by close to 15 minutes due to the incident.

"Rahul and Lakshmi Devi tried to control the baby, but all their efforts went in vain. A few minutes before departure, the air hostesses requested the mother to get down from the aircraft along with the baby since other passengers are getting disturbed. Initially, they hesitated but later, Lakshmi Devi and the baby deboarded while the father continued his journey," DT Next reported, quoting a source at the Chennai Airport.

The airline, however, said the woman decided to deboard the flight on her own and was not pressurised to do so.

"Vistara would like to confirm that a lady passenger traveling with her husband and daughter (infant) on our flight UK 838 from Chennai to Delhi on 18 January 2021 had requested to deboard the aircraft with her daughter, soon after boarding was completed. The request was made since she was concerned about her daughter's health as she was continuously crying," a Vistara spokesperson said, the News Minute reported.

"Our crew and ground staff extended full support to the passengers while ensuring all relevant protocols were followed. Safety and comfort of all our customers is our utmost priority which was highly appreciated in this case by the passenger and her family," the spokesperson added.

Chennai Airport Director Suneel Dutt told the DT Next that there are no rules to remove crying babies from a flight.

"Babies will always cry inside an aircraft due to various reasons and we never consider asking them to cancel travel plans. If the baby keeps crying because she is ill, then the airlines shall consider offloading. But every airline has its own set of rules," he said.