According to the Consumerist
On July 20th, Julianna's (delayed) Delta flight landed in Atlanta at 7:30pm, with a connecting flight scheduled for 8:05pm. Julianna, who has muscular dystrophy, missed the connecting flight because nobody came with a wheelchair until 8:05—the same time the connecting flight took off. To make matters worse, the plane crew told Julianna she might make the flight anyway if she stopped waiting for help and got off the plane right now, so she crawled down the stairs on her own.
She was then taken into a back room and told her plane had taken off. Her letter details the next eight hours of her harrowing journey trying to fly, which included difficulty getting to a restroom, getting food or water and, eventually, having to crawl again onto a shuttle service at 3:15 a.m.
6 comments:
Honestly, I'm a little speechless about this and about people's comments to the original article (people asking why she didn't just wheel herself to the food court, umm if she could hae she would have). Here's hoping that her speaking out makes some difference for others and that people start helping out others whether or not it's their "job," because it's the right thing to do!
Definitely. I've had some traveling adventures over the years, but nothing like this has ever happened. Was in a hurricane once while trying to fly home and that was interesting but the airline staff watched out for me actually. Of course ran into some personnel who weren't very nice, but nothing ever happened that rose to the level of being denied assistance that was basic! However, I have heard stories from others and know that training isn't always adequate.
Yet another reason why I don't like Delta!!!
Thanks for the link. It really sickens me that people could see another person struggling that badly and ignore it.
Wheeling- Yeah it's difficult to travel alone when some businesses fail to educate that accommodations are not just ramps...
This story is nothing out of the norm for people who fly and use a wheelchair. In the last year I have crawled off more than one plane in spite of the fact I always leave at least two hours to make a connection. What choice do I really have? Wait for airline personnel to appear or miss my flight? In my business I cannot sit around and wait for hours hoping help will appear. Airlines have outsourced this job like many others and have a long history of abusing disabled people. This pattern of harassment has only gotten worse like all passenger services. I simply refuse to fly unless I am going more than 1,500 miles. I can no longer tolerate the experience that is routinely overwhelmingly negative.
William- Thanks so much for your comment. I don't fly often, and appreciate hearing about your experiences with airlines. Having to crawl off planes is outrageous.
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