Originally Posted by
planemechanic
I have noticed common themes about these wheel chair threads.
1. Many of those who need a wheel chair ALSO need more than just a wheel chair, they need a traveling companion, as they are so often described as being infrequent travelers, unwilling or unable to to take the proper course of action (such as walking 45 minutes in pain just to "make a flight"), an unaware of the actual rules of air travel.
2. There are many responsibilities involved when wheel chair is requested, and when those are not followed only one side gets blamed, typically the airline. What about the responsibilities of the travelers family to make sure the traveler who needs assistance is safely on board. A gate pass would have fixed all of the issues here. Or a traveling companion who makes the trip with the WC passenger.
Too often family drops off travelers who need assistance without the proper tools to ensure they are safe and that the passenger has options when things go awry, as they always do. There are 10 million commercial aviation flights per year in the US. Plan for mistakes to happen, and take steps to ensure they happen. As much as the airline is at fault when a WC does not appear, the passenger/passengers family is at least equally at fault for failing to take all steps required to ensure a safe journey.
Being a typical infrequent traveler isn't enough to make one need a traveling companion.
Originally Posted by
planemechanic
A wrong answer posted "gracefully" is still wrong.
I said there were mistakes on both sides, assuming that the facts of the case as presented are true. But that does not absolve the passenger of all responsibility. Had this person refused to move until a WC was provided, or called her daughter, or simply asked anyone walking by for assistance the rest of the issues would not have occurred.
Refused to move? So what? The GA would have left them there. It's a totally useless move.
Calling the daughter--good, except note that she didn't have a cell phone.
Asking passersby for assistance--I doubt this would have done much. Passersby might have been able to direct her to the gate but they wouldn't have a wheelchair and they likely wouldn't have the time to stay with her on the long walk.
Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
To me, this is sounding like the GA needs to be fired. Refusing a wheelchair request twice, for a passenger that had properly booked and confirmed the wheelchair assistance, and further telling the passenger a lie about the location of the new gate are employee actions that can lead to big fines for the airline as well as bad publicity.
I'm going to guess that the previous poster was right that she was going to board without the chair. The GA probably saw this and realized she could walk and thus jumped to the mistaken conclusion that she was simply being lazy.