Originally Posted by
JerryFF
When my mother was alive, she lived in Florida and I lived in California. She was a native American and spoke English well. She would occasionally travel across the country to stay in California. Every time she did this, I flew to Florida and accompanied her on the trip.
I cannot imagine expecting two elderly people who don't speak English to travel across the country with a connection in Atlanta (one of the biggest and most complicated airports in the US) by themselves. You should have arranged a car to take them to Philadelphia and get them on a nonstop flight to the nearest city near you, if you didn't want to accompany them.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Intl Airport is the busiest in the US & the world. It's a large international airport with non-stop flights to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and direct (no change of plane) flights to Australia.
The airport really isn't that complicated or complex to navigate - everything is under one roof compared to JFK or LAX.
The fact that Air Tran couldn't assist in getting a language translator is a big
- again considering ATL is their main hub and ATL's status as an international airport. I would think providing language translation assistance during an IRROP would be basic customer service.
Many passengers who speak little to no English transfer in ATL every day.
They might be older but this does not make them incompetent. I know of many senior citizens, including some with health issues, that travel internationally without problem. Language barriers may create problems, but airlines that operate at most international airports are setup with staff who speak several languages and also have translation services available.
Just MHO..