Originally Posted by
justhere
Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about. But you know what, that's ok. In fact, I'd love to be ignorant of a disabled traveler's needs. It would make like just that much simpler. I don't know of anyone that chooses to be disabled and give up some of the things that ignorant people take for granted. Things such as being able to walk from the door of the plane to the last row. Things such as being able to walk from their seat to the bathroom without someone's assistance. Things such as being able to stand unassisted for a few minutes so that you can line up with everyone else.
As you take these things for granted, allow me to explain why else you are wrong. The person I travel with cannot walk up and down the jetway.
They can take a few steps, with assistance to get from the door of the plane to the first few rows.
Your irrelevant wall of text aside, your travel companion - by your own admission - needs assistance. Nobody should not find it unreasonable or demeaning to have to wait until the plane is clear before personnel can come on to assist.
To tell someone that they must remain seated only because they need a wheelchair to get up and down the jetway is so demeaning and thoughtless. Those few steps are one of the only things this person can do for themselves (albeit with an arm to steady them). To basically tell them, "yes I know you could get off now and not hold anyone up, but to
kb9522 you aren't really a person so we don't care that we are treating you differently because of your disability. You just sit there and twiddle your thumbs needlessly because of some arbitrary decision by someone who doesn't understand." I can see why that's not demeaning.
How on earth is it even remotely demeaning? They have already admitted they need assistance, the timing of the arrival of that assistance is absolutely irrelevant.
And if it wasn't completely clear how little you understand from the first part of your post, you decided to show the world just how closed-minded you are with the second part.
More insults... does it make you feel better?
Open seating isn't an issue. It's actually a benefit. Because of open seating this person can preboard so that they can get a seat close to the front of the plane.
If you are saying the passenger needs assistance, then preboarding is fine. And sure, you can sit in the front in that case. But somehow this same passenger magically does not need assistance to deplane... that's where it breaks down. If the passenger does not require assistance, they should board normally. If you NEED a seat in the front and do not need assistance to board, then open seating doesn't make sense... It makes far more sense in such cases to pay for a seat in the front on a carrier with reserved seating.
[/QUOTE] On legacies where you have to walk through first class, even the closest available coach seats can require the use of an aisle chair. [/QUOTE]
The implication of my statement was that in the case where a seat in the front is needed but assistance is not, one should be expect to pay for the seat they want (if that's F, then it's F).
So no, there's no scam. We would gladly trade the seats we get near the front for the back row of the plane if it meant that we didn't have to deal with the disability.
Don't demean them and take their dignity away by implying that they are an inconvenience to everyone else.
It's not demeaning or taking away their dignity. It's a statement of fact that passengers who require assistance to deplane will inconvenience others if everyone else has to wait to deplane so that personnel can board to assist first.