D. Sudhakara Reddy, president of the Air Passengers’ Association of India, passed away here on Monday. He was 73. He is survived by his daughter.
Mr. Reddy had his finger on the pulse — from opposing high airfares to understanding passengers’ trauma on flight cancellations and refund. He fought for the rights of passengers.
“It has always been in him to help those in need. After casually helping out some passengers, he began to realise the serious need for an association decades ago and that’s how he started it. It takes quite a lot of perseverance to consistently fight for passengers’ rights for so long,” D. Vasanthi, Mr. Reddy’s sister, said. He had worked in the area for 30 years.
On many occasions, he had taken up the cause of many air passengers.
“He had appealed for and put forth many policy decisions and changes for the benefit of airline industry and air passengers, which is rare and hard to come by,” Beheram Mehta of APAI said.
Suneel Dutt, Chennai airport director, said Mr. Reddy provided significant inputs to improve air connectivity and facilities at the airport. “He played a pivotal role in bringing passenger grievances to the public domain,” Mr. Dutt said.
Besides these facets, at home, he was a doting father who inspired her in more ways than one, Deeptha Reddy, his daughter said. “His innovative mind and discipline is something I looked up to and deeply admired. He will be truly missed,” she added.
