- Airline maintains silence, refuses to comment
- Chairman Pathirage says ‘looking into it’
SriLankan Airlines has come under intense scrutiny following the recent incident involving two male employees at the Bangalore Airport and their alleged mistreatment of an Indian family with an autistic child.
Despite the public outcry and attempts by The Sunday Morning Business to obtain an explanation, the airline has chosen to remain silent and refrained from providing any comment or reply in relation to the incident.
In the preceding week, a post shared by Smrithy Rajesh, an Indian passenger, recounting the distressing treatment her family experienced at the hands of two SriLankan employees, gained significant attention.
According to the Indian woman, two male employees of the airline at the Bangalore Airport had denied boarding to her 15-year-old autistic son, citing the absurd reason that he posed a threat to the pilots and other passengers.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage stated that the airline was looking into the matter and further claimed that the airline had reached out to the victimised family.
“First we need to investigate. You are just going by a social media story without checking whether it is true. We will investigate this issue first,” he added.
Similarly, SriLankan Airlines Manager (Corporate Communications) Deepal Perera stated that an inquiry had commenced into the incident and he was unable to comment until the relevant investigations were completed.
He further stated: “This incident happened at the Bangalore Airport. After that they travelled to Colombo and the Maldives without any incident.”
Attempts by The Sunday Morning Business to contact the Indian passenger for further information were unsuccessful.
This incident is only one among a host of customer complaints directed at SriLankan Airlines in recent weeks.
Another story that has been circulating on social media in recent days states that the airline mishandled the travel arrangements of Ven. Ajahn Brahm – a charge the airline denies.
Commenting on the matter, SriLankan Airlines stated: “The Venerable Ajahn Brahm was booked on a different airline when the unfortunate delay occurred at Bandaranaike International Airport in the early hours of 31 May 2023. SriLankan Airlines, however, promptly stepped up and went beyond to help Venerable Ajahn Brahm find an alternative flight. SriLankan Airlines therefore reiterates that the Venerable Thera was not originally booked to travel to Bangkok or any other destination on SriLankan Airlines when the incident happened.”