Tag Archives for wheelchair.
American Airlines baggage handlers in Miami were filmed playing ‘toss the wheelchair’ with several passenger wheelchairs, displaying careless handling and insensitivity towards essential mobility devices.
When a flight has numerous passengers with wheelchair assistance on boarding, and then most of those passengers get off themselves and walk out of the terminal – walking right past the waiting wheelchairs on the jet bridge – it’s known as a “miracle flight.” Here’s one recent Southwest Airlines flight where 20 passengers used wheelchairs to board, and only 3 used them to get off. 17 passengers experienced an inflight miracle.
When 55 passengers board a single flight using wheelchairs, that’s tough not to notice. But when only 25 need assistance getting off the plane at their destination, it starts to look like 30 people requested assistance just to get priority board, plus maybe assistance through the security line at the airport.
Reading this headline I had visions of Southwest Airlines gate agents tossing the woman out of her wheelchair.
Nearly a year ago a 25 year old woman was boarding a Southwest Airlines flight in Fort Lauderdale, heading for Denver, when “her electric wheelchair hit a junction that caused her to be thrown from her chair.”
It’s been quite a year for Lufthansa. They banned Jews from travel in the spring and now they’ve barred a U.S. congressman because of his wheelchair. And any airline knows don’t cross Congress.
Some unscrupulous people request wheelchair assistance at the airport when they don’t need it, using their ‘injury’ for a whole bunch of benefits: skip the security line, early boarding, and even better better seats on board.
Some unscrupulous people used to request wheelchair assistance at the airport when they didn’t need it and use their ‘injury’ to get earlier boarding of their flight, better seats, and more.
Right now though there are very few people at the airport to help push wheelchairs so this is tough to do, but people are still faking injuries to make their travel experience a bit smoother, or at least cut lines.
It’s one thing when Delta is asking employees to volunteer to clean Sky Clubs at their Atlanta hub because contractors can’t find employees. It’s another thing when vulnerable passengers are left overnight to find for themselves.
A tipster shares that Prospect Airport Services at Charlotte’s airport went from “300 passenger service agents to 30 because of low wages. They’re offering a signing bonus, but the $9 pay isn’t attracting qualified candidates.” That may provide some insight into challenges at Washington’s National airport, and all over the country finding someone – anyone – to help passengers in need of a wheelchair make it to their flights.
What would you do if you were pushing a wheelchair and the passenger… fell out? What if you were a flight attendant, standing on the jetway, and saw this happen to one of your passengers?
And what if it was all a prank? This passenger deals with a lot more in life than I do each day, yet manages to maintain a great positive outlook and has fun with the people he meets. I find that inspirational.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
