Recently, Korean Air caused controversy after asking a woman and her autistic son to get off the plane before take-off. The flight departed from Frankfurt, Germany to Incheon International Airport, South Korea on July 26.
The woman said: "The seat on the plane was very cramped so my son felt trapped and ran out. I ran to hold him, but a male flight attendant caught him. I gave him the medicine as prescribed, but it took a while for the medicine to take effect. So he left the place a total of 4 times and walked around."
In addition, she has repeatedly mentioned that her son has autism since check-in and informed the flight attendants about the issue. She insisted her son wasn't screaming or causing a ruckus, but Korean Air's flight attendants arrived and asked them to get off the plane.
As for Korean Air, the airline explained that the autistic boy wandered around in the cabin, ran to the stairs to board the plane and refused to sit down despite being asked many times. Although the mother tried to hold him back, but it didn't work, so the airline had to ask both of them to get off the plane to ensure the safety of other passengers.
Besides, Korean Air also said that it did not receive information about passengers with autism at the reservation counters, check-in counters and aircraft gates.
Currently, netizens are arguing fiercely about this issue. Many people asserted that the airline did it right to protect the safety of other passengers on the flight. Meanwhile, others objected and said that Korean Air has unfair practice with people with disabilities.
