BBC Correspondent Documents Shabby Treatment of Wheelchair Users at LGW
Jeff Edwards January 13, 2017
BBC News’ Frank Gardner is bringing attention to the plight of passengers with special needs after he was left on an empty plane without assistance for nearly 30 minutes.
Frank Gardner normally covers issues of national security for BBC News, but the award-winning journalist took time this week to bring attention to a subject that is just a bit more personal. The BBC reporter took up the cause of commercial airline passengers who must rely on airports in the U.K. to offer special assistance when traveling. Gardner, who himself uses a wheelchair, took to social media to document his latest air travel-related indignity at Gatwick Airport (LGW).
The former war correspondent live-tweeted as he waited for nearly 30 minutes on an empty EasyJet plane for special assistance to allow him to deplane. Gardner later updated his Twitter followers, noting that the airline chose to use stairs to disembark passengers despite a photograph of a nearby, unused jetway.
For those kindly following my @Gatwick_Airport hassles the responsibility rests primarily with @Ocs_Assist but @easyJet ignored airbridge pic.twitter.com/qGdNK5WNfL
— Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner) January 8, 2017
“For those kindly following my @Gatwick_Airport hassles the responsibility rests primarily with @Ocs_Assist but @easyJet ignored airbridge,” he wrote by way of a photo caption.
The longtime journalist who was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to journalism” by Queen Elizabeth in 2005, says he is taking a stand because he believes publicity is the only thing that will improve the plight of travelers with special needs. Gardner was left with serious permanent injuries after being shot by militants sympathetic to Al Qaeda in 2004.
“None of this is the exception, which is why I am raising it. This is what happens frequently when there is no air bridge,” Gardner told BBC News. “I am pretty cynical about this because I have been traveling with a wheelchair for 12 years and I’ve not seen any improvement. Nothing will change unless there is perpetual bad publicity, or there are financial penalties.”
Gardner said that he is not singling out any particular airline or airport, instead calling the issue “tedious” and a regular occurrence across all airports and airlines in the UK. He did note that he believes airlines have lately been making a habit of using stairs rather than gates equipped with jetways in an attempt to save money.
[Photo: BBC]
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Easyjet (all airlines) pay less when using stairs instead of jetbridge. They might not even have an employee trained to operate available for the flight. The problem is in the EU the airports are responsible for assistance and not the airlines. In the US (and most countries) the airline is responsible. This means the airline is the one paying and can call and demand service. Instead in the EU the assistance contractor has no care if the airline complains, they're not the customer.
is he sure the jetbridge was operational. usually whe you pull up short its because the jetbridge is broken