Originally Posted by
davesam12
Now, now Andi28 - don't be so harsh. Flying at high altitude is proven to have remarkable curative results. In decades of flying I have often witnessed canes, walkers, wheelchairs abandoned on arrival and once infirm pax at boarding, hop up, grab their bag from the overhead and stroll down the jetway.
It’s called “the Miracle of Modern Aviation”.
In all fairness, some need a chair for a long haul crawl through DFW, MIA or PHL, but can handle short distances like those from the gate to the Taxi area at SMF. My wife is 83 and is in late stage four of Alzheimer’s disease, so she’s one who you might see do exactly that. The long distances and disorientation at PHL would be totally disruptive to her. I often purchase Five Star Services where it’s available and useful for that, with a chair in places that require it for her. Unfortunately, no miracle forbher and many others.
One DYKWIA I witnessed was at HND, where an EP in Coach was requesting, then blowing up like a blowfish and castigating the staff, demanding access loudly, to the JL First Lounge. At the time HND had stricter requirements than
oneworld access due to restricted capacity. He got progressively louder and puffed up like a disturbed puffer fish, lost tons of “face”. The louder he got, the quieter and mre intransigent the staff became, as he completely humiliated himself in front of everyone and slunk into the Sakura business lounge. (The First lounge was only moderately crowded; I suspect if he’d been humble and very polite, they might have let him in to return the respect.)