Firstly, thank you to everyone for your feedback. I posted this thread late last night and was surprised at the number of responses when I returned to it this morning. As with many FTers, my wife (runningshoes1) and I are in different parts of the world/time zones today so we haven’t had the opportunity to discuss this at any length however we are both most appreciative of the advice and suggestions offered.

My wife is flying with United from ORD this morning. After she checked in, she had a discussion with a member of staff in the Red Carpet Club who was appalled when she heard what happened. She apologised profusely and encouraged my wife to write a complaint. She also assured my wife that she had done everything that could be done with respect to her Mother's journey and that the correct procedures had been followed. Unfortunately an apology doesn’t change what happened but at least a United employee recognised and accepted that what happened was wrong.

In response to some of the posts made, we hadn’t considered the ADA, ACAA or other Federal legislation but these are excellent points. We agree that the real issue here is the denial of access to wheelchair assistance; the lack of a vegetarian meal is a matter which, although poor, is something we have all become tolerant of in this world of declining quality of service when it comes to air travel. In this instance however, it was simply the icing on the cake.

With regards to planemechanic’s generalisation, certainly in this instance, my Mother-in-Law did not require a ‘travelling companion’. She was checked in, at the correct Gate in plenty of time and waiting for boarding. She was absolutely fine and ‘good to go’ till the Gate change at which time it was the responsibility of the Gate Agent to ensure she had ‘wheelchair assistance’ to the changed Gate. If the Gate Agent had done his job properly, there would not have been an issue. This situation was a consequence of the Gate Agent refusal to request wheelchair assistance in accordance with the booking and not my Mother-in-Law’s failure to make him do his job. She fulfilled her obligations as a passenger but he failed in his duty as a United Gate Agent; it's that simple.

That said, the suggestion of a Gate Pass is a welcome one as it’s something neither of us would have considered. However, in this instance, the Gate Pass shouldn’t have been required but would have enabled my wife to address the Gate Agent’s failures and ensure that her Mother did not suffer for those failures. In short, if he’d done his job properly, there’d be no call for this. In future we will obtain a Gate Pass in case we have the misfortune to encounter another United employee who can't/won't do their job properly. Judging by some posts, this should be expected of United so we’re duly warned.

I don’t know if my Mother-in-Law discharged her wheelchair when she arrived at the original Gate or not. I appreciate wheelchairs can be in short supply at busy airports so I would not be surprised if she let it go. Not only could she board from the Gate unassisted but she would also hate to be a burden for anyone. It certainly would have made things easier if she’d kept the wheelchair but there’s every possibility that somebody else would have gone without.

Once again, thank you very much for your feedback; we really do appreciate it.