Actress Lisa Ray is taking Air India to task, blasting the airline for rejecting a medical waiver after she canceled her 92-year-old father’s travel plans due to his worsening health. The Indian-Canadian star, known for her advocacy on health issues, aired her outrage on X Wednesday, accusing the carrier of lacking the compassion it claims to champion.
“Here we go again @airindia,” Ray fumed in her post. “My father is 92, unwell, and I have to cancel travel due to his ailing condition. Submitted doctor’s letter and the waiver was denied? How is that possible? Where is the empathy from an airline that is claiming to care about passengers???” Her plea struck a chord online, spotlighting her father’s hospitalization in Chandigarh, as confirmed by a screenshot she later shared.
Air India’s X account responded, asking for more details, but the damage was done. Ray posted a booking site screenshot revealing “no medical waiver” was available—despite her submission of a neurosurgeon’s certificate. The airline, now under Tata ownership, told her it’s reviewing the case, but sources suggest her non-refundable ticket, booked via a third-party agent, might be the snag—not Air India’s call directly.
Ray, who battled multiple myeloma since 2009 and chronicled her journey in her 2019 memoir Close to the Bone, isn’t letting it slide. “I’ve had waivers from airlines like Emirates before,” she told India Today, framing it as a matter of principle over her $4,000 cancellation hit on a $5,500 fare. A vocal patient rights advocate since her modeling days in the ‘90s and her 2001 Bollywood debut in Kasoor, she’s now turning her fight personal—demanding Air India step up for families in crisis.