Disability Travel - Sometimes, you need to take a deep breath -- my SQ story

I had a strange experience with SQ Customer Relations yesterday, and I am trying to figure it out.

I am meeting up with my husband in Europe in the fall, and made my reservation on SQ Business Class on the JFK-Frankfurt route, via the internet. All was well. I got my seat assignment, and even booked the cook. When I tried to advise SQ that I am traveling with my own wheelchair, however, the website kept booting me out. Eventually, I called the 800 number.

So, I am talking to SQ's 800 number person (there is a dedicated line for business and first), and I said, "I already have a reservation, and just need to let you know that I am traveling with my own wheelchair." Silence. "Do you need my reservation number?" "Yes." I gave it to him. He then asked for my name. I gave him that, too. He asked what type of wheelchair I had. I told him it was a small, collapsible, manual wheelchair. He asked if he could put me on hold. I said it was fine. He came back and said, "The wheelchair will have to be gate-checked. It will not be on the plane with you." "Not a problem," I replied. He put me on hold again. "I'm afraid you cannot travel on this flight alone." "I beg your pardon?" I said. "It's a very long flight, and your assistant must be with you." "My assistant?" I asked, "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding somewhere. Is there something you need to know about me, about my disability? Something you have not asked?" "It's a very long flight," he insisted, "And we cannot assist you." "Assist me with what?" I asked. He would not answer.

I have taken this flight before. Without a problem. I have also read the SQ website. If you use a wheelchair or have a disability, the FAs may assist you in making up the bed, and in moving about the cabin. They may not assist you inside the bathroom.

The Customer Service Agent finally tells me, "When someone is traveling with their own wheelchair, it is because they are paralyzed, and on a flight this long, we cannot assist a paralyzed passenger." "Sir, I am not paralyzed." "Oh, I'm sorry about the misunderstanding." :rolleyes:

Not their finest hour in customer relations, though I think it had to do with being too delicate to come right out and say, "I assume you are paralyzed and it's a long flight and the FAs are not authorized to wipe your butt." As if a paralyzed person would ever allow such a situation to arise!!!! Which, of course, goes back to the old adage about assuming things. Literally. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

good grief that was a long winded conversation. I just booked my wheelchair in with Etihad and never had that problem. sounds like they daren't ask you how disabled you are. I know I would not be offended if they asked me more questions and did not just assume I couldn't do something. I prefer to work on my 'abilities' not my 'disabilities'..

I have never been offended answering questions about my disability. In fact, it was the uncomfortable silences in this conversation that got to me, and it was why I kept asking if there was something they needed to know about my disability. At one point, I said point-blank, "Is there something you need to know about my disability, since all you know about me is that I am traveling with my own wheelchair?" More uncomfortable silence on the other end. I really don't understand what was going on here. Is there some SQ diagram that says "traveling with own wheelchair = paralysis = cannot travel alone if flight > x hours"? Why the unwillingness to ask questions? This was the most uncomfortable CR situation I have ever been in, and given that it was SQ, and that it was a dedicated premium class line, I am frankly a bit disappointed. :(

Wow. As someone who IS paralyzed, this would have enraged me. Im glad it worked it for you, but I'm curious as to what would have occurred if it had been me n the phone...
I remeber something similar occurring with LH a few years back in FRA. Our team was heading back to Canada and they attempted to deny us boarding with the argument that there must be an able-bodied assistant for every wheelchair user. It resulted in boarding be delayed by 45 minutes.. .

Frustrating.

Wow. As someone who IS paralyzed, this would have enraged me. Im glad it worked it for you, but I'm curious as to what would have occurred if it had been me n the phone...
I remeber something similar occurring with LH a few years back in FRA. Our team was heading back to Canada and they attempted to deny us boarding with the argument that there must be an able-bodied assistant for every wheelchair user. It resulted in boarding be delayed by 45 minutes.. .

Frustrating.

Extremely. If you check out the website, you will note that they are supposed to have on-board wheelchairs, to assist you in getting around while on the aircraft. Most people suffering from varying degrees of paralysis deal with their toileting issues in private. Those who need assistance on a long flight would, I suppose, bring a suitable companion. In my experience, those of us with disabilities don't generally go around trying to make nuisances of ourselves, least of all with such personal, and potentially embarrassing, issues. I really and truly want to know what it is these airlines think we need a personal assistant for during the flight. Last-minute letter-writing? Grabbing magazines for us from the little rack? I would so love to know.

I really and truly want to know what it is these airlines think we need a personal assistant for during the flight. Last-minute letter-writing? Grabbing magazines for us from the little rack? I would so love to know.Write the head of the airline a good, old-fashioned paper letter and ask him that question, making sure to note on it that you are copying the relevant disability rights authority in charge of air travel issues (would that be the FAA on flights departing JFK? or the Justice Department?).

Then please post whatever answers you get here. :)

I just don't think it's worth getting worked up over this stuff. I'm a paraplegic and I get dumb stuff from the airlines all the time. Their call centers are often poorly trained, and the employees just don't know what to say (and I think often stuff comes out wrong precisely because they don't want to offend you). Some airlines are better than others, but I don't have good experiences with the "world class" Asian carriers when traveling in premium classes. Never tried SQ, but I've had issues with CX and their obsession with wheelchair size/weight, Thai and their insistence that I need a "safety assistant" who's on the same reservation, not to forget Asiana and their demand for "medical forms" and doctor's statements certifying fitness for travel (uh, and do I need oxygen or a stretcher?). That's not to say that airlines in the US are much better; United is pretty much hopeless, and on my last 10 calls to AS requesting the bulkhead row I've been informed easily a half dozen times that "the gate agent may reassign the seat if someone with a disability requests it." I just don't let it bother me; ABs say and do dumb stuff all the time, and why should airlines and airports be immune from it? :)

It is not often that I say it but to some extent I feel for the airlines. They have to deal with millions of people every day, many of whom showed no respect for their staff. Speak privately to any cabin crew member who has flown for a number of years and you will learn of horror stories as to how they are treated by able-bodied passengers. Factor in the disability and one can begin to understand the hesitancy on the part of the airlines. It may not be right, but it is understandable.

One should also not take it for granted that passengers do not in fact expect the cabin crew to cater to their personal needs. One good friend of mine, who was an international air hostess, was called over one day midflight by her superior and asked please clean the toilet in which a passenger had taken a cr@p in the handbasin!.... :eek:

There are some really strange people out there.... :(

I just don't think it's worth getting worked up over this stuff. I'm a paraplegic and I get dumb stuff from the airlines all the time. Their call centers are often poorly trained, and the employees just don't know what to say (and I think often stuff comes out wrong precisely because they don't want to offend you). Some airlines are better than others, but I don't have good experiences with the "world class" Asian carriers when traveling in premium classes. Never tried SQ, but I've had issues with CX and their obsession with wheelchair size/weight, Thai and their insistence that I need a "safety assistant" who's on the same reservation, not to forget Asiana and their demand for "medical forms" and doctor's statements certifying fitness for travel (uh, and do I need oxygen or a stretcher?). That's not to say that airlines in the US are much better; United is pretty much hopeless, and on my last 10 calls to AS requesting the bulkhead row I've been informed easily a half dozen times that "the gate agent may reassign the seat if someone with a disability requests it." I just don't let it bother me; ABs say and do dumb stuff all the time, and why should airlines and airports be immune from it? :)

Neither do I. Which may be precisely why, if you've read my OP, you may have noticed that I did not, at any point, get "worked up," as you put it. Indeed, long-winded though the conversation was, I kept asking what information about me it was that the airline needed, since there seemed to have been a misunderstanding at some point. If you consider that getting "worked up," then I guess we have different definitions of the phrase. YMMV, of course.

It is not often that I say it but to some extent I feel for the airlines. They have to deal with millions of people every day, many of whom showed no respect for their staff. Speak privately to any cabin crew member who has flown for a number of years and you will learn of horror stories as to how they are treated by able-bodied passengers. Factor in the disability and one can begin to understand the hesitancy on the part of the airlines. It may not be right, but it is understandable.

One should also not take it for granted that passengers do not in fact expect the cabin crew to cater to their personal needs. One good friend of mine, who was an international air hostess, was called over one day midflight by her superior and asked please clean the toilet in which a passenger had taken a cr@p in the handbasin!.... :eek:

There are some really strange people out there.... :(

Hesitancy of the airlines to do what? Carry passengers with disabilities? I have found passengers with disabilities to be among the least demanding, among the most willing (and able) to pay their own way in J and F (we figure out what works, pay for it cheerfully and keep our mouths shut about the cost), and I have never, ever heard of a passenger with a disability demanding that a FA attend to their personal needs. The handbasin incident you describe above, I daresay, could not have been perpetrated by a passenger with a disability in any event . . . Assistance in getting to the lav? Sure. Assistance inside the lav? I don't think so.