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Was this woman running a "wheelchair scam?"

Was this woman running a "wheelchair scam?"

Old Oct 8, 2012, 9:01 am
  #31  
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Scammers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Airport Lines Legally

HOUSTON (CBS HOUSTON) – A wheelchair request can put you at the front of a long airport line.

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act, airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not show any proof of disability — free of charge.

And this isn’t news to airport staffers.

“When [travelers] see that the line is so long, they just ask for a wheelchair,” Evelyn Danquah, an attendant for Delta Air Lines, told the Times. She said she has seen some wheelchair fakers stand and walk away as soon as they clear security. Wheelchair attendants — whose salaries range between $9 and $14 an hour, with tips, help to maintain a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding the line-hopping strategy in hopes of bolstering their paychecks, the Times reported.

The tactic even spawned a new term among flight attendants: “miracle flights.” Where passengers use wheelchairs to board but abandon them when their planes land.

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/10/...lines-legally/
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 9:07 am
  #32  
 
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I am sure there are some legitimate scammers (is that an oxymoron?), but I also used to work with a guy who looked perfectly healthy, but had a Handicap placard for parking. He told me when we went out one day that he has a disease (forget the name) that prohibits him from walking or standing for long periods.

I have an issue with a hip. Most of the time, I am quite okay. But, when it flares up like it did last night on a trip to MSP, I was barely able to negotiate the airport without asking for a chair. Pride wouldn't let me ask, but I am sure it doesn't stop others.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 9:14 am
  #33  
 
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All they need to do is put them in the back of the plane, for safety reason the plane needs to be cleared in an emergency so the passengers can get off quickly, can not be done with wheelchairs in the front of the plane...
Ii also have seen to many walk fast off the plane..
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 9:48 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Jib
with tips
The American disease of undepaid workers having to rely on tips strikes again.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 10:22 am
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by rankourabu
The American disease of undepaid workers having to rely on tips strikes again.
$14/hour to push a wheelchair seems fair to me for an unskilled worker doing manual labor with the assistance of a simple machine. Likely the "reliance" on tips, as you put it, can be attributed more to the American habituation to tipping in general.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 10:32 am
  #36  
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apparently no one thought of looking at nyc-fll/mia flights. Those seem to be healer flights.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:15 am
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by WIRunner
apparently no one thought of looking at nyc-fll/mia flights. Those seem to be healer flights.
Funny story about that. I was flying out of FLL yesterday, and two disheveled passengers approached the guard for the SkyPriority security line begging to be let in because they were running late. The guard enforced the rule, and said they would need to wait in the main line unless they went and got a wheelchair from the counter. She then gave them very clear directions on how to get a wheelchair, and off they went. Five minutes later, she quickly ushered them through the SP line with their wheelchair.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:15 am
  #38  
 
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(At risk of drifting off topic and/or stirring up a serious debate ...)

Why is it that people in wheelchairs get to skip the lines anyway? I've never understood this. If someone has a disability or whatever such that they need a wheelchair to get around, then sure, the airport and airlines should accommodate this. But what on earth has requiring a wheelchair got to do with waiting vs. skipping a line?
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:18 am
  #39  
 
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When I travel with my Dad (84) he uses a wheelchair. It's nice to have the front of line perks, but frankly he needs it due to his age and Parkinson's. Overall it's still a much slower process as everything just takes a little bit longer.

People doing this makes me sick.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:19 am
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Originally Posted by Tim82
(At risk of drifting off topic and/or stirring up a serious debate ...)

Why is it that people in wheelchairs get to skip the lines anyway? I've never understood this. If someone has a disability or whatever such that they need a wheelchair to get around, then sure, the airport and airlines should accommodate this. But what on earth has requiring a wheelchair got to do with waiting vs. skipping a line?
I think it has to do with the attendant who is being paid hourly to escort the passenger to their gate. Airlines don't want to pay them to wait in line, and generally need them back ASAP to assist the next customer.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:24 am
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by Ascii
I think it has to do with the attendant who is being paid hourly to escort the passenger to their gate. Airlines don't want to pay them to wait in line, and generally need them back ASAP to assist the next customer.
Aaah! That makes sense, thanks. I really have been puzzling over that for years. :-)

Last edited by Tim82; Oct 8, 2012 at 11:24 am Reason: typo
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:26 am
  #42  
 
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Originally Posted by Tim82
(At risk of drifting off topic and/or stirring up a serious debate ...)

Why is it that people in wheelchairs get to skip the lines anyway? I've never understood this. If someone has a disability or whatever such that they need a wheelchair to get around, then sure, the airport and airlines should accommodate this. But what on earth has requiring a wheelchair got to do with waiting vs. skipping a line?
See my earlier post

Part of it has to do with tying up the wheelchair attendant. For many elderly they simply can't wait 30-45 minutes in a line, especially if there are other mitigating factors. You may need to go to the bathroom, take medications etc. on a schedule interval, get tired or disoriented easily etc.

When I travel with my Dad, I always book him in J, and go with him. So he would be have some priority anyway, but this extra gesture from the airport helps.

For most, using a wheelchair is not something they look forward to. My Dad started using a cane/walker very reluctantly and only started accepting a wheelchair in the airport when he absolutely couldn't walk that far anymore.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 11:36 am
  #43  
 
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Fakers will only be hurting those of us with real needs.
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 12:21 pm
  #44  
 
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Cool

Originally Posted by Tim82
(At risk of drifting off topic and/or stirring up a serious debate ...)

Why is it that people in wheelchairs get to skip the lines anyway? I've never understood this. If someone has a disability or whatever such that they need a wheelchair to get around, then sure, the airport and airlines should accommodate this. But what on earth has requiring a wheelchair got to do with waiting vs. skipping a line?
was biting my tongue but it started bleeding profusely so....
I hope you NEVER have to find out! My spouse is elderly and has Parkinson's disease which has slowness of movement as one of its main symptoms. We would have to go through security today to make a flight tomorrow night if there wasn't an expedited process! That being said, there are also many with "hidden" disabilities - rheumatoid arthritis, shattered backs, bladder problems, the list goes on and on, and I feel it's a way of giving those who are disabled dignity and respect. Trust me, I wouldn't want to be in his skin 24/7/365; getting to the head of the line or the front of the class is little reward!
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Old Oct 8, 2012, 12:37 pm
  #45  
 
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I think this is a symptom of the bigger disease. It has been almost a decade when the threat level went to orange and with all we know and have done it can't be dropped even one notch? TSA continues to spend billions of dollars on more expensive equipment and we have to take off more and more clothes and move even more slowly through the lines. People lash out in various ways over all of this, so some decide to wheel it through. It is all some sort of weird, make me feel safe, federal jobs program that basically does little but spend money.
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