daloosh

I bet I would be allergic to the emotional camel, and being seated next to it would cause claustrophobia. Back on topic, my mother would have good days and bad days, and that could occur in a single day, too.

Jetstreamer

I certainly hope this thread is not closed as the OP raises some interesting discussion points. Shouldn’t passengers who request special assistance be asked to wait until others have disembarked?

It appears that some have taken the “having their cake and eating it” comment as the OP somehow suggesting the disabled gentleman in question is on to a good thing and “lucky”. We’d all rather be in the OPs position than be in that gentleman’s position, but it doesn’t mean someone should be immune from criticism because they are disabled. Nor does it mean such things shouldn’t be discussed in case it offends someone who is disabled or someone who claims to speak for the disabled.

Whether or not the gentleman should come in for criticism I don’t know. Perhaps they got up to let a window seat passenger disembark? Perhaps he never requested assistance or perhaps they were just in a rush like everyone else. If he requested assistance to disembark, is the instruction to wait until the end? If yes and he did request assistance then I can see the frustration.

As for the 3 minutes issue – the number of times I’ve missed my half-hourly bus connection from LHR by a similar amount of time is frustratingly high. Others may only have hourly connections – so 3 minutes can add up to a lot more. Sure, once home the frustration usually fizzles away, but everyone here must have felt some frustration from a line moving more slowly than they would like.

At the end of the day the OP is probably making a meal out of very little, but the BA board would be very quiet without such threads. For those trying to make more out of the Ops comments, I say move on.

For the rest, how about a discussion on the main points raised, without the rest of it?

simons1

But what is the point of it all? By his own admission the OP was delayed 3 mins. Is his relative importance such that 3 mins delay requires a diatribe of this type?

Whenever a post starts "I respect the needs of".....then we generally know what is coming.

GadgetGal

Those points have been answered: there is no rule that special assistance passengers have to be the last off the plane but sometimes it works out that way.


Any passengers who might have missed connections or onward travel bookings due to a slow walking passenger in front might just have easily been held up but a slow taxi to the gate, extra long passport control etc.

PUCCI GALORE

What indeed. I quite agree.

beachmouse

It could be that the sky god had decided to provide the cure to only those on the usual well-known miracle flights between New York City and Florida that day.

If there are even slight flight delays, 3 minutes can really matter when it comes to whether someone makes a connecting flight or not. I've been on plenty of spoke-hub routes where the flight attendant makes an announcement as the jet bridge is getting attached that they would like for the people who do not have short connections to please let those whose connections have become tight to deplane first. And passengers are often good with that because they know karma will come around again and next time you're the one trying to make it to the next gate too quickly.

jp-mco

It’s ironic that the issue was over a delay of 3 minutes. I wonder how long it took to write the first post? More than 3 minutes I would have thought.

Phil the Flyer

Setting aside the hysterical comments this thread has induced what do the websites of some OneWorld airlines have to say on the matter?

Qatar Airways: Qatar Airways

includes the following wording - We'll be able to assist you in leaving the aircraft as soon as other passengers have disembarked ...

Finnair: https://www.finnair.com/gb/gb/inform...ity-assistance

includes the following wording - If you need help disembarking from the aircraft, this will happen after other passengers have left, so that we have more space and time to assist you.

SCToni

This is a safety issue for both the wheelchair passengers AND those behind them, in addition to being an issue of basic manners, from which handicapped folks are not exempt. When these folks insist on getting up too soon, they put themselves in the position of being jostled, knocked over and injured by bags coming out of bins. When they wait to be last off (and yes, when I'm working as a flight attendant, I instruct them very strenuously on this policy of "first on, last off") they are safer, they can take all the time they need and they are not delaying others.

DutchessPDX

Hey OP, how about being less judgmental and being more understanding. Just because someone needs wheelchair assistance to the gate doesn't mean they aren't ambulatory. Sorry you had to wait a couple extra minutes. Before he passed, my father could walk short distances BUT from security to the gate was too much to handle without lots of stops. He could get off the plane without assistance but was very slow if he had to walk too far. So, I just hope in the future, when you reach an age where things aren't as easy that the people around you have a little more compassion than you showed here. Geesh.

GadgetGal

Your quotes refer to assistance leaving the aircraft. If that includes use of the on-board wheelchair or the ambu-lift ( from the stairs to the tarmac) then yes they have to wait. What you describe in your original post is two people getting off the aircraft slowly but unaided, THEN getting assistance. Slightly different.

stu1985

RobDBA

While the tone of this post could have been nicer I do feel there is a discussion point here. When my daughter was a baby we would always wait until the rest of the plane had got off to get up and gather the many belongings that were needed when travelling with a baby and then disembark at a comfortable pace. I would not have wanted to hold up the rest of the plane and saw this as a common courtesy. I expect my disabled mother would do exactly the same if she were still with us.

Should this be something disabled people are mandated to do? Respectfully asked to do? Or just do it anyway due to manners? I think it is an interesting topic even if it got off to quite a confrontational start....

adrianlondon

I'm confused. Why would someone want cake and then not eat it?

mapleg

The phrase is "Having your cake and eating it too". Clearly if you eat the cake, you can no longer have it as a physical object, since you have eaten it.


As for the OP, do you kick old people aside on escalators? After all, they may impede your progress by 15 or 20 seconds.