DawnGrab

This is my first time on this site. I am a brand new member. I am seeking advice. I have already filed a complaint with Delta Airline, and The TSA at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.Please Note: I have left out my booking number, and the contact information of the friend that got my home back to LAX, but it is in the original complaint filed already with Delta Airlines & TSA. Any further guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you All! Arriving from Rome FCO to New York City Kennedy airport on October 17, 2022, On flight DL153. Delta refused to allow me to board my second flight . That flight was supposed to be JFK to LAX leaving at 5:45 PM and landing at 8:55 PM. I am a person that requires special assistant I am a wheelchair user. The person I was traveling with was sent up ahead to let them know I was coming and was delayed at TSA Because they did not have a female TSA agent for a female pat down. I waited for over 35 minutes at TSA. I will be filing a complaint with them, too. The plane was still there. It was 5:25PM. The flight was supposed to depart at 5:45 P.M. I said if they were not going to allow me to get on the flight, I needed to get my purse, which had my apartment keys, cell phone, money, credit card, glasses, and supplements for my condition of Cerebral Palsy, my crutches, my travel bag. a Delta representative went down to get my belongings, but she only came back with my crutches. I told her I needed my purse, and travel bag. She informed me that the flight had already taken off. I was at JFK airport with only my passport and ticket to board the flight that had just left. The only reason I had passport in my hands was I never had time to put it back in my purse. I was left at JFK airport with my personal wheelchair, my crutches, my passport, and ticket that was now useless because the plane took off. I then had to borrow a wheelchair pusher's phone to call the one number that I could remember to get a hold of a friend. (See More in Attached Word Document. This is where the Delta complaint stopped. It limits you to only 1,500 characters).

I was left at JFK airport with my personal wheelchair, my crutches, my passport, and ticket that was, now, useless because the plane took off. I then had to borrow a wheelchair pusher's phone to call the one number that I could remember to get a hold of a friend to see if she could get a hold of the other flight. I was rebooked on another delta flight that flight took off at 7:25P.M. October 17,2022 from the JFK airport and landed at LAX at approximately 10:00 PM. I don't think I got a ticket for that. I can't find it. At the rebooking counter for Delta, I asked for supervisor’s name and card. I was told I would need to go to the website for that. (I can only stay and argue for so long before I’d miss another flight).

The wheelchair pusher pushed me back to TSA to see if, perhaps, my purse was left there. Since I was not sure if the person, I was traveling with truly grabbed it or not. TSA would not let me back to look at the footage. So, I had to describe the person I was traveling with and tell them the approximate time we came through TSA which was 5:00 PM Eastern Time. I asked TSA for supervisors’ card, and I was told that I would need to go on the website for that. I asked for the highest supervisor available, and no one came. TSA informed me that if I had been able to get up and walk through the metal detector, I never would have missed my plane. I would have been willing to do that with my crutches, but my crutches were taken away at TSA to go through the X-ray machine. I argued with TSA that they were in violation of the Americans with Disabilities act the man told me to calm down that they were not in violation of anything because this was Delta’s fault.

According to My friend, the only contact information I could remember, Delta's texting app, website, phone calling was all useless, as a matter of fact, several representatives hung up on her when she said how do you get a hold of a passenger on a flight, if it's an emergency. My friend had to call the tower at LAX, and the police at LAX to get in touch with the person I was traveling with figure out how to my personal belongings back. I am told by my friend that officer Hernandez at the Police Department at LAX was extremely. From start to finish that took eight hours. When I arrived at LAX, they still could not find my bags that I was told was left at lost and found. Eventually, I did find all my belongings. I feel that I was discriminated against because of my disability. Delta has no compassion whatsoever. Why didn't they call ahead to let them know that I was coming? I had a ticket on that flight? Why didn't they let me get on the plane when the plane was still there? I believe Delta is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Thank you for allowing me to post.

beckoa

Welcome to Flyertalk DawnGrab.

Please follow the redirect as we move this to our DL forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

Scudsone

I’m sure I’m going to seem like an AH, but this seems to be the fault of your companion who took your stuff and boarded the plane and flew to LAX without you, and also whoever booked your flight with a short connection. DL153 was scheduled to land at 4:19pm and your connection to LAX departed at 5:45. Under 2hrs at JFK arriving and connecting internationally is pretty tight without accounting for limited mobility, need to coordinate a wheel chair, etc.it turns out that flight arrived 6 min early, but could easily have been late. But by the time it gets to the gate and you deplane you have less than an hour to make it through immigration, bag recheck, security again, and to the gate. And JFK can have literally a half mile walk from security to the gate.

I would have booked myself on the 7:25 connection and I’m (thankfully) able bodied and not unfamiliar with sprinting across a terminal. But I always allow minimum 2hrs for international connections and I have global entry, TSA pre, and clear, and generally fly upfront so can disembark first and my bags are sky priority tagged. Still 2hrs plus to play it safe.

it’s inexcusable that TSA took 35 min to find a female agent, but these stories are all too common. It seems like they may have meant well at the time but leaving you at security and going ahead to the gate was a huge mistake. At 5:25 the door is already about to close for that 5:45 flight, and they showing up and asking them to wait was not going to be successful. Let alone boarding with your items including phone and purse.

You don’t say but I’m assuming you were rebooked on the later Delta flight, and your items were at LAX (again, seems your companion abandoned them at lost and found, seems like a d**k move on their part). There was no way your were going to make that 1:26 connection. I think your companion abandoning you, poor planning, the TSA, and then (tangentially) delta are to blame, in that order.

I’m sorry if that seems harsh

ATOBTTR

I’m sorry you had this experience while traveling but unless I’m missing something, just what was DL’s fault here? Your issue seems to be with TSA but that’s not under Delta’s control. DL is under no obligation to hold the plane for you even if your travel companion runs ahead to tell them you’re coming. Airlines have schedules to keep to and slots to keep and hundreds of other passengers to account for and delaying the plane waiting for another passenger may not be feasible due to down line impacts. Why your travel companion boarded the plane with your stuff but without you also there is also a mystery and something you need to discuss with them and is not DL’s fault.

MarkCron

I pretty much agree with Scudzone .... as far as I can tell, at the end of the day, the OP was 65 minutes late getting to LAX.

normalone

I'm very confused by many aspects of this story. Your traveling companion boarded the plane with your belongings before you arrived at the gate and didn't consider the fact that you might not make it in time? But then you weren't sure that they had your items and returned to TSA to check the security cameras? And then on arrival at the destination your traveling companion left your items at lost and found rather than wait for you to arrive an hour later?

With friends like that who needs enemies?

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Welcome to FT. As many of us replying are experienced fliers there is not going to be any really positive help.

I have flown many times in and out of JFK on international flights and know from that experience to leave plenty of time to the point of booking the later of two flights, in this case the 7:25 in stead of the 5:45 so to give an extra 80 minutes. Doing so means that the incoming flight will be early, immigrations and customs will a breeze, no long walk to another terminal, and TSA will have short lines. In other words I could have made the earlier flight, instead I head to the lounge for a beer. Had I booked the earlier flight the complete opposite would have happened. Not quite the OP's case but close.

Sidebar: about the only US airports that I will book an 85 minute layover with an international flight are Atlanta and Detroit. I know those airport well, have Global Entry, and am able bodied.

As for the issue of not getting through TSA in an reasonable manner. Therein lies the real issue. One needs to be persistent. I have gotten plenty of pat downs as I refuse the scope. Sometimes getting a TSO can be a long somewhat punitive wait. A 35 minutes wait is ridiculous and is really the only airport related complaint.

What I really do not understand is why your traveling companion did not wait for you. Not going to say more about that.

Leaving most everything with your travel companion so they could go ahead reminds me of one of my early international travel stories. A friend and I were taking an evening train in Europe. While waiting on the train I discovered something was missing from my duffle that had been in a bag locker at the train station. The train was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. So I left everything with my friend on the train and ran back to the locker. As I did that I thought, if the train leaves I could be a world of hurts as I do have my passport or any money. Nothing was at the locker so I ran back to the platform only to see the train doors closing and the train begin to move. My friend had opened the window and was saying something to me when I said get out of the way, made a running leap, and dove through the window which caused quite the commotion in the car. Then the train stopped. We figured the controller saw my performance and was coming to boot us from the train. It never happened. The train was just adjusting its position at the station. It pulled out on time a few minutes later. Fortunately I can look back and laugh at my naivety (others can too, so feel free to do so).

Pianoman109876

Okay. I needed a break from the family thanksgiving activities. Let's break this down and see what's going on.

1.) You stated you were on DL 153 from FCO-JFK on October 17. That flight departed at 1:18 PM local time and arrived into JFK at 4:05 PM local time (scheduled to arrive at 4:20 PM) local time. Your connection was at 5:45 PM; giving you a connection time of 1 hour and 25 minutes. This is a LEGAL connection time, meaning Delta will sell the ticket (and you accepted the ticket) with the expectation that you will make your flight. In fact, you actually had an additional 15 minutes. So Delta is not at fault by selling you a ticket with an illegal connection time.

2.) You stated that TSA held up either you or your friend (It wasn't clear). While unfortunate, that DOES happen and it is not the fault of the airline or of TSA. There could be a myriad of reasons why there was not an agent. Your contract of carriage with an airline does not cover TSA delays. So neither Delta nor the TSA are at fault - it is a risk of travel that sometimes this happens (not downplaying the inconvenience, but this happened to THOUSANDS of travelers this summer).

3.) You stated you arrived at your gate at 5:25 PM for a 5:45 PM departure time. JFK requires check in at a minimum of 45 minutes prior to departure and 15 minutes at the gate prior to departure. If you did, in fact, arrive at T-20, you have a claim that you were IDB (involuntarily denied boarding).

4.) You stated you gave your personal belongings to a companion. This was your decision to make and not the fault of anyone else's.

5.) You state you now had a "worthless ticket". That is incorrect. In the event of a misconnection due to something like security, you will automatically be rebooked on the next available flight. You stated this happened, so it is unclear why you are saying your ticket was then worthless. Your same boarding pass could be used to board the next flight and would have clearly been explained to you. Rebookings are common procedure.

----

TL;DR - You may have a claim for IDB if you were, in fact, at the gate 20 minutes prior to departure. Delta sold, and you accepted, a ticket with a LEGAL connection time. Missing a connection due to TSA does not constitute discrimination on the basis of the ADA. I'm sorry you had this experience. But nothing here suggests that AS A RESULT OF YOUR DISABILITY you were treated differently than any other passenger. As to your claims about lost luggage and belongings, you chose to give your belongings to someone else who then chose to board the plane without you. That is not Delta or TSAs fault or responsibility.

AirborneLocksmith

Your post is to the point and I don't think it was harsh.
Choices were made and consequences were paid.

Scudsone

Oh I know. This is just an obviously inexperienced flyer with a terrible disease/disability (MS) who was ultimately failed by her “companion” who took all her stuff on the flight without her, plus a too-tight connection at a terrible airport terminal. I didn’t want to sound like I was blaming the victim…

Jasper32

I agree with the above analysis regarding the fact that it seems that Delta is not at fault here, and it sounds like the TSA followed their published screening protocols.

As a point of clarification, the ADA does not apply to airlines (except in the area of employment discrimination). The ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act) is the law that applies to disabled passengers. I’m also disabled & travel with a service dog as well as medical equipment & medical liquids, so I understand that TSA can be a point of frustration if you don’t know the protocols that apply to you. The simple fact is that disabled passengers are usually required to go through additional TSA screening as the regular scanner is often not sufficient to clear us. Knowing this, I personally recommend giving yourself a 45 minute cushion to get through TSA if you have TSA Pre-check. If you do not have pre-check, I’d give it at least an hour. Usually, this recommendation should result in you having lots of extra time to chill before your flight, but sometimes TSA is really backed up on the special screenings side of things.

If you are an infrequent traveler or just feel like you would benefit from extra help at TSA, look into the TSA Cares program. Call them at 855-787-2227 a minimum of 72 hours before your flight, and they will do their best to arrange for an employee, usually a supervisor, to meet you at the checkpoint & guide you through the screening process. Note that this does not decrease the amount of screening you are required to go through; they are just there to advise you. There is no charge for this assistance. You can also call that same number at any time if you have questions about what you can & cannot take through the checkpoint; they can also explain the protocol for how they screen different types of medical items. If you are at the TSA checkpoint & they are not following protocol, you can ask them to stop & contact a Passenger Support Specialist; obviously this will also extend the time you spend at the checkpoint, so pick your battles if you are short on time.

I am sorry that you had a difficult travel experience. Hopefully some of this information can help you have more pleasant travel experiences in the future.

obscure2k

Thank you jasper32 for the last post which is a great summation.
Happy Thanksgiving to all
Obscure2k
Delta Moderator