‘Where is the empathy?’: Lisa Ray criticises Air India for denying waiver after cancelling her ailing father’s travel

CHENNAI: Actor Lisa Ray on Wednesday called out an airline company for denying the medical waiver for her ailing father. She slammed Air India and said that she submitted all required documents from her doctor yet the waiver request was denied.

Taking to X, she wrote, “Here we go again @airindia. My father is 92, unwell and I have to cancel travel due to his ailing condition. Submitted doctors letter and the waiver was denied? How is that possible? Where is the empathy from an airline that is claiming to care about passengers???.”

When the airline’s official account responded to give further details, the actor posted a screenshot of her conversation with the travel agency. In that photo, the airline company stated that there was no medical waiver for her request.

In a follow-up post, Ray shared additional correspondence, which confirmed the denial of the medical waiver request. One user on X suggested that no airline, and perhaps no airline should, offer waivers for non-flexible or non-changeable tickets, regardless of the reason.

Lisa Ray, born to an Indian father and a Polish mother, was raised in Canada before moving to India in the early 1990s to pursue a modeling career. She later made her acting debut in 1994 with a minor role in Hanste Khelte (directed by Bharat Rangachary). However, it was her iconic role in the 1996 music video “Afreen Afreen”, composed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and penned by Javed Akhtar, that made her a household name in India.

Lisa's acting career soon expanded, and she appeared in several notable films across multiple languages. Her diverse work included the Kannada film Yuvaraja (2001), the Bollywood thriller Kasoor (2001), and the Telugu film Takkari Donga (2002). Additionally, Lisa gained international recognition for her role in Water (2005), a Canadian drama, and Defendor (2009), an English-language film.