Well I thought I'd seen it all over the years, or had at least read about it on FT, but earlier today was a new one for me. Whilst milling around in the 'B' line at ISP for the WN flight to BWI, several pax and I observed a youngish girl and guy team galloping up the concourse toward us, just before boarding was called. Once at the gate, the fellow slowed to a slight hobble, produced a lightweight alumin(i)um cane, and the pair of them joined the pre-boarding line just as they were heading off down the jetway.

I tell you, the nerve of some people! As we (eventually) filed down the aircraft past the couple, I overheard several comments of 'so, how's the leg?'

I agree that this behavior is "audacious" and I am going to move this thread to "The Travellers with Disabilities" Forum. Let's get a little more input on this topic.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Hmmmmmm.... @:-)

I've commented on this before. Some flights there are like 10 wheelchair pax along with me and I am usually the only one that needs assistance.

I guess I can't wait until the guy with the cane really needs one, or even worse. Then he would rather board with the regular folks.

Tsk... tsk... tsk...

Don't people know better than to fake illness or injuries?

Talk about asking for some bad karma.

I know a guy here where I live who recently lied to the place he works for and told them that he was deathly ill and in the hospital. He had several coworkers worried to death. He was actually in Fort Lauderdale living it up.

Well, he finally came back home a few weeks ago and guess what, he ended up in the hospital, deathly ill. They still don't know what is wrong with him and he has had to be readmitted to the hospital a couple more times since then.

These people will get what they deserve.

I've seen folks clearing objects out of their shoes as I did the Plat boarding on AA flights. The other thing that gets me is when a preboarder gets escorted by six or seven family members.

He was probably a soccer player

many airlines no longer do any pre-boarding unless a person has an obvious and serious need to do so. No pre-boarding of families with infants or the elderly who just need more time to board. I strongly dislike cheats.

Yes, very, very bad karma!

I seem to be pioneering post-boarding - I'm batting about 50% in the last 4 months. I need an aisle chair to board, and if it doesn't turn up first, I'm last.

I would have *accidentally* tripped the guy (if it was the guy) faking. OOPS! :P

No! You wouldn't want to do that! He might break his leg if you did that!

I travel very often for work and as a person who uses a wheelchair it can be quite challenging. I race through airports on connecting flights and do my best to get to the gate to pre-board the flight. What irks me to no end is when they know that I have a connecting flight and then I have to wait for the airport staff who need to go and get an aisle chair to board me on the plane. There needs to be more of this staff available at airports. Rarely have I ever had an airline HOLD a flight that I was connecting to if my plane was delayed or if I was delayed because they did not have the aisle chair waiting on me when the plane reached the jetway. I have had my wheelchair broken by airline staff who try to put it back together when they must disassemble it to fit it in the plane instead of waiting for me to assist them in making sure my wheelchair is put back together properly.

I won't even begin to talk about the staff that has the responsibility to get me onto the aisle chair and then off of the aircraft. Sometimes I wonder if they've ever done that before. One such person got upset when I cursed rather loudly while he allowed my leg to be twisted like a pretzel to get me off the aircraft. I explained that had he been paying attention he would have seen that my leg was about to be ripped from my body due to his incompetence. I recently had the pleasure to be involved with the Ms. Wheelchair American Pageant and she came to our local airport and gave a talk to the airport staff about traveling for people with disabilities and how they could better serve the disabled public. Since that time I have gone through the local airport several times and I have noticed that not only are the airport staff friendlier but they now listen much closer and ask me the best way to assist me instead of assuming that they know how already.

I recently was up for a promotion, which would have involved some international travel, and not knowing what other countries are like in accommodating people with disabilities I had to mention that this was one of my concerns. I didn't want to get to a foreign city and not be able to enter the building or not be able to travel to a foreign country because they do not afford people with disabilities the same services we do here in the US. I was not offered the promotion of course. I just felt it was my responsibility to alert my employer to some potential issues that might happen since they had never dealt with a person with a disability before me and I was unaware of what traveling overseas was like.

I appreciate that there is a forum for me to talk with other travelers with disabilities and get advice and share ideas.

That really is such a shame that people cheat the system like that. I had a coworker who travelled to Germany this morning who had recently broken her leg. She is on crutches and is able to get around on them just fine but when face with getting her luggage and all she was facing some challenges. I suggested she ask the airline for assistance as a person with a temporary disability and she eventaully did but she felt bad to take advantage of the program when she herself could get around.

That's what the service is there for, to help people who actually need a helping hand, not those who think there time is better spent skipping the line and waiting on the plane for the same amount of time as they would have spent waiting anyways!!!

"I'm sorry, was that my rollaboard that just fell on your head, then mysteriously again on your foot? Here's a drink chit."

That unhinges me. Last month I was flying home from DCA to PHL. There was an elderly woman whom they allowed to board first. Along with this woman came her entourage (an additional 5 people). It took forever for them to board. They finally got into their seats and THEN .................... they were on the wrong plane. There were 2 flights leaving for PHL at the same time. So, the family had to deplane bucking the people traffic coming onto the plane.

Bobi