Originally Posted by
imagineertobe
The question is then does a hearing deficit, i.e., deafness, cause someone's mobility to be reduced? I've been an interpreter of signed languages for 15 years and known deaf people longer and have not yet witnessed a deaf person having mobility issues owing only to what can be seen on their audiogram.
Physical mobility is not the issue here. The issue is the ability for the travelers in question to receive and comprehend crew instructions in an emergency situation. Obviously "thousands of people with disabilities travel safely everyday." But again, the concern is not about what will happen during a routine flight...it's what would happen during an emergency. I'm not justifying the airline's actions here, but let's be blunt about what the concern is.