This summer my elderly mother will be traveling on Northwest from SMF to BOS with a connection in MSP. She has limited mobility, so I arranged for a wheelchair when I booked the flight. I may need to arrange for oxygen as well. Her time in MSP is 53 minutes. I live in MSP and would like to meet her at the gate to make sure she makes her flight. I have relatives in SMF and BOS who will be able to help her at those gates as well. She is able to walk short distances... slowly, but she could manage getting from gate to her seat, or at least, from the door of the plane to her seat. I realize that she will be allowed to board early, but how is getting off the plane handled? When and how do I arrange for a pass to assist her at the gate? Any info and suggestions would be appreciated.

RWW

This summer my elderly mother will be traveling on Northwest from SFM to BOS with a connection in MSP. She has limited mobility, so I arranged for a wheelchair when I booked the flight. I may need to arrange for oxygen as well. Her time in MSP is 53 minutes. I live in MSP and would like to meet her at the gate to make sure she makes her flight. I have relatives in SFM and BOS who will be able to help her at those gates as well. She is able to walk short distances... slowly, but she could manage getting from gate to her seat, or at least, from the door of the plane to her seat. I realize that she will be allowed to board early, but how is getting off the plane handled? When and how do I arrange for a pass to assist her at the gate? Any info and suggestions would be appreciated.

RWW

53 minutes sounds tight to me. She will be escorted from plane to plane if you let the airline know, but you will be last off the arriving plane which means a 10-15 minute wait to get off the plane. By the time she reaches the departing plane boarding may well have started and she may have to be last on.
I have no idea if you can get a pass but im sure one of our american friends will know.
If you do need to arrange oxygen id talk to northwest about a longer connection time.

Thanks for the info Gatwick Alan. I am debating getting her a longer connection time, but I'd hate to make her travel time any longer than I have too. I have 3 months, so changes are an option. My understanding is that NW will have the oxygen on board each plane (somebody tell me if this is true). NW is aware of the possible need for oxygen and the short connection time. They aren't worried, but I am. I know I have to pay for oxygen on a per segment basis, so I'm thinking the oxygen doesn't follow her from plane to plane. This could be a problem, but at this point she is hoping to not even have the need. Perhaps she is overly optimistic, or i'm stressing out over something that won't even be a problem. If anyone has information on how NW handles oxygen or getting a gate pass to assist, i would appreciate hearing how things work.

RWW

I realize that she will be allowed to board early, but how is getting off the plane handled?

First on, last off: normally, passengers who need assistance are expected to remain on the plane until all other passengers have disembarked. So 53 minutes sounds a little tight to me, too.

I don't have any experience with NW gate passes, but generally the procedure is to talk to someone at check-in, who should issue the pass. Occasionally it is useful if someone if giving you a hard time about getting one to go see a different ticket agent. I’ve never seen someone get one to help someone during a transfer, so I’d defiantly call and ask them what their policies are on that.

I would agree with the other posters that the connection time is tight, but I’d say doable if the gates aren’t on opposite sides of the airport. One thing to think about though is if your mother would like some time to use the facilities (airplane lavs not being the best for someone with limited mobility) or get some food. If so, you would defiantly do better with a longer connection.

The advantage to a shorter connection time would be less time without access to oxygen, as NW will only provide that during the flight.

Thanks for the responses. She's pretty determined to get her travel done with asap, despite my worry about the connection time. I'll mention the advantage of time to eat and take care of business if she's willling to wait a couple hours for the next flight. Plus there's extra mom-daughter time if getting a gate pass works. I called NW again and was told I can have oxygen pulled off the original MSP-BOS flight if it looks like her arrival in MSP is delayed and it needs to be put on a later flight. Obviously, I'm going to have a stressed out day when she tries this.

RWW

Those tight connections can really be a pain for those with disabilities, who need assistance. I've run into occasions where, if I needed a longer connection, I had to either stay overnight or pay a lot more to fly a different route or airline. That probably isn't a problem for this situation though. I'd' like to know if you get the pass or not at MSP.