PHL-ISP crew kick off blind man w/service dog; flight cancelled
#16
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 216
The month before America West name disappeared, they lost my bag.
It never occurred to me to blam US Airways.
US Airways now has the freedom to do a lot of PR-damaging things.
Just do it quickly before the US Airways name becomes American.
#17
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,558
PHL-ISP crew kick off blind man w/service dog; flight cancelled
I'm not familiar with the Dash 8 but isn't the f/a jumpseat by the boarding door and the first row of seats? That would be an exit row and service animals can't be in an exit row.
Service dogs that are actually trained are very familiar with airplane seating and they have no problems making themselves fit. It's pretty fascinating to see them.
Service dogs that are actually trained are very familiar with airplane seating and they have no problems making themselves fit. It's pretty fascinating to see them.
#18
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TUS
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Posts: 91
US Airways seems to be getting slammed in the court of public opinion - they've certainly got enough comments on their FB page to that effect, although I wonder how many people will actually follow through on their threats to boycott the airline.
If the ADA follows up on this, I think US Airways is in big trouble. I have friends who train golden lab guide dogs - the behavioral expectations for these dogs is extremely high. I don't believe the FA's comment about the dog walking up and down the aisle, although I can see the dog trying to stretch out or at least get a little more comfortable until commanded to change position (when my friends bring their dogs to church the dogs appear to doze off during the sermon).
I can see the pilot deciding to cancel the flight if he realized everyone was upset at the FA and if something happened they wouldn't listen to her or feared she'd be harassed during the flight.
Bottom line: I don't buy the FA's story and US Airways is looking at a lot of trouble from a PR, and possibly a DOT standpoint.
If the ADA follows up on this, I think US Airways is in big trouble. I have friends who train golden lab guide dogs - the behavioral expectations for these dogs is extremely high. I don't believe the FA's comment about the dog walking up and down the aisle, although I can see the dog trying to stretch out or at least get a little more comfortable until commanded to change position (when my friends bring their dogs to church the dogs appear to doze off during the sermon).
I can see the pilot deciding to cancel the flight if he realized everyone was upset at the FA and if something happened they wouldn't listen to her or feared she'd be harassed during the flight.
Bottom line: I don't buy the FA's story and US Airways is looking at a lot of trouble from a PR, and possibly a DOT standpoint.
#19
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 216
US Airways seems to be getting slammed in the court of public opinion - they've certainly got enough comments on their FB page to that effect, although I wonder how many people will actually follow through on their threats to boycott the airline.
If the ADA follows up on this, I think US Airways is in big trouble. I have friends who train golden lab guide dogs - the behavioral expectations for these dogs is extremely high. I don't believe the FA's comment about the dog walking up and down the aisle, although I can see the dog trying to stretch out or at least get a little more comfortable until commanded to change position (when my friends bring their dogs to church the dogs appear to doze off during the sermon).
I can see the pilot deciding to cancel the flight if he realized everyone was upset at the FA and if something happened they wouldn't listen to her or feared she'd be harassed during the flight.
Bottom line: I don't buy the FA's story and US Airways is looking at a lot of trouble from a PR, and possibly a DOT standpoint.
If the ADA follows up on this, I think US Airways is in big trouble. I have friends who train golden lab guide dogs - the behavioral expectations for these dogs is extremely high. I don't believe the FA's comment about the dog walking up and down the aisle, although I can see the dog trying to stretch out or at least get a little more comfortable until commanded to change position (when my friends bring their dogs to church the dogs appear to doze off during the sermon).
I can see the pilot deciding to cancel the flight if he realized everyone was upset at the FA and if something happened they wouldn't listen to her or feared she'd be harassed during the flight.
Bottom line: I don't buy the FA's story and US Airways is looking at a lot of trouble from a PR, and possibly a DOT standpoint.
Why didn't the passenger sitting next to the blind passenger volunteer
to move? That would have created an empty floor space for the dog
to rest. I'm not a dog person, but I would have moved to give them
more space.
Supposedly all of the other passenger supported the blind passenger.
Or did that not apply to the passenger sitting next to him?
#20
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P.S. Thank you for a post that unveils the root of all our problems.
#21
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http://www.ada.gov/
Given that US Airways has already been working with them on the merger settlement, I'm sure it could be quite a lively conversation
#22
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: High Point, NC
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Posts: 9,171
Actuallly, the first stop for a complaint would be the DOT. Remember that just recently the DOT fined US for ADA issues with connecting between flights.
Jim
Jim
#23
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Sure, the ADA can't follow-up directly, but I'm sure the US Attorney General (representing the US Department of Justice) certainly can:
http://www.ada.gov/
http://www.ada.gov/
#24
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Sure, the ADA can't follow-up directly, but I'm sure the US Attorney General (representing the US Department of Justice) certainly can:
http://www.ada.gov/
Given that US Airways has already been working with them on the merger settlement, I'm sure it could be quite a lively conversation
http://www.ada.gov/
Given that US Airways has already been working with them on the merger settlement, I'm sure it could be quite a lively conversation
2. Air carrier access to people with disabilities is governed by the Air Carrier Access Act, not ADA.
3. If the Vecturist14 was referring to Americans with Disabilities Act in #18, I am pretty certain that this Act itself will not follow up on anyone or anything any time soon.
#25
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Sure, the ADA can't follow-up directly, but I'm sure the US Attorney General (representing the US Department of Justice) certainly can:
http://www.ada.gov/
Given that US Airways has already been working with them on the merger settlement, I'm sure it could be quite a lively conversation
http://www.ada.gov/
Given that US Airways has already been working with them on the merger settlement, I'm sure it could be quite a lively conversation
#26
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1. Assistant District Attorney ( state level ) and US Attorney General ( federal level ) are two different people who do somewhat different things. ADA do criminal prosecutions under state jurisdiction. USAG represents the United States in much broader spectrum of cases under federal jurisdiction. Although USAG can theoretically follow up on this particular incident, in reality, he has more important matters to attend to.
2. Air carrier access to people with disabilities is governed by the Air Carrier Access Act, not ADA.
3. If the Vecturist14 was referring to Americans with Disabilities Act in #18, I am pretty certain that this Act itself will not follow up on anyone or anything any time soon.
2. Air carrier access to people with disabilities is governed by the Air Carrier Access Act, not ADA.
3. If the Vecturist14 was referring to Americans with Disabilities Act in #18, I am pretty certain that this Act itself will not follow up on anyone or anything any time soon.
#28
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This is analogous to an American Eagle Airlines operated flight. As a wholly owned subsidiary, there is strict accountability to the mainline parent that might not be as realistic had the flight been operated by an outside contractor.
For anyone out there harboring issues toward emotional support animals, this was a blind man with a seeing eye dog. Seeing eye dogs have been accepted for decades.
This sounds like one of those situations where the flight attendant should have just taken care of their myriad duties and left the blind man alone. Instead, it sounds as though she decided to exercise her "authoritah" where discretion, a bit more maturity and some compassion on her part would have prevented any disturbance. Occasionally, some flight attendants earn the derogatory moniker of "prison matron" and my guess is that this is one of those times.
Yes, they're all at risk of those mythical $10,000 fines we hear about so often. Sure. If fines of that magnitude were levied against regional airline (or even mainline) FAs, there would be lots of cites and links. And if the flight attendants were truly worried about FAA inspectors assessing fines against them, there wouldn't be so many of them fiddling with their smartphones during taxi-out for the past several years (yes, the rules changed for many airlines last week).
#29
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Additional link
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=9325216
Sounds like the passengers did try to move
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=9325216
Sounds like the passengers did try to move
#30
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The Air Carrier Access ACT ACAA = The ADA of the Sky
The primary civil rights law here is the Air Carrier Access Act, ACAA, with accompanying DOT regulations 14 CFR Part 382. The law is primarily enforced by the DOT.