To Crossbow:
Well, my oint is that they aren't even capable of delivering 'reasonable accomidations'.
In my case, I wrote weeks ahead of my flight, requesting the equipment and personel I would need for my flights.
All, that I asked is that I be given an opportunity to make my connecting flight. Sure delays happen and many people have missed flights, but should 'I' be the ONLY one on a flight that misses a conection, but because the service I requested ahead of time is absent???
AGAIN, is it 'reasonable' that I should have to drag myself off a plane in order to make a flight?
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Here is an article I wrote about my experience(s) with Air Travel:
Airline Travel
By: Albert James Knabe
Do you enjoy it?
I mean, I can remember a time as a young boy when I could only dream of getting to fly in a plane. I even remember the first time I ever rode in a single engine plane in perfect detail. To fly like the birds, high as the clouds, and as fast as could be imagined... Aboard an actual airline, I had visions of beautiful women bringing me warm milk and cookies followed by a pillow and a blanket. A trip across America, that once took weeks was now accomplished in only hours...
Well, so much for fanciful dreams. Today the reality is much different, as passengers are sardine-canned into smelly seats, connected through two flights before arriving at their destination, while being served a small packet of 6 individual pretzels and a tiny bottle of water. To fly half way across America, say from Texas to Pennsylvania takes now 12 hours, including layover.
My reality is even worse. If you have flown recently, you may have noticed that the isles are pretty thin, often times no wider than 17-22 inches. Thus navigating my wheelchair to and from my seat is quite impossible, disabling me independent access to and from my seat. BUT, thanks to the ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act) the airlines are required to provide me with "reasonable assistance" getting to and from my seat.
To date, this includes use of an "isle chair". This device is similar to a dolly that you'd use to haul a washer or drier around crossed with a Hannibal Lector cart. I am asked to board a thin straight-backed chair, be strapped in with my arms crossed over my chest, and then carted to my seat like so much cargo. It is quite a sight, and most of the time I am forced to do this in front of an audience of onlookers. You see, airlines aren't required to have an isle cart at every gate. So even though you called days or even weeks before your flight, there may not be one there to utilize, resulting in delays and embarrassment for me, my travel companions, and the rest of the passengers on the plane.
My most recent travel experience was the worst to date. From Pennsylvania to Texas, I had a connection in Chicago. A 45 minute layover to travel all the way across O'Hare a normal walk of 30 minutes. It was an "Express" flight that required passengers to deplane directly onto the tarmac. 'I' required a lift mechanism, along with an isle chair, and had called & written the CRO (Customer Relations Officer- Disability Specialist) for my travel company and explained my dilemma. I requested that they have the tools necessary for me to deplane, ready and available ASAP upon our landing and pondered if it were possible that I be allowed off the plane first, so that I could more easily make my flight. The Officer took my request, but was certain to make no promises.
When we landed, the equipment (lift & isle cart) WERE available. However, the personnel to operate it was NOT. Therefore, I waited to deplane last, instead of first, hoping that assistance would arrive soon. Ten to 15 minutes later, I was alone on the plane and still waiting for assistance. Well, I mean alone, as in the last passenger on board. The flight attendant, a mechanic, and the Captain were still there. I waited another 7-8 minutes and decided that the ONLY way for me to make my connecting flight was to deboard myself. So I threw myself onto the floor and dragged my ass down a flight of stairs, got into my chair and was off to my next flight
Then I managed to talk this golf cart driver into towing me across the airport (against regulations), but he could only go half way. Arriving at my gate, I was out of breath, but just barely on time. The ticket taker noted that had I been even 5 more minutes later, they'd have been gone. Luckily, the flight had already been delayed due to a technical problem with the lavatory. However, once again there was no isle chair to be found and it was easy to see disgruntledness in the faces of the other passengers as I was finally boarded some 10-15 minutes later.
All this, even though I called the airline, e-mailed, sent them an actual a letter, AND handed them a print out of my request for my return flights when I arrived for my initial flight. And still I think I suffered from rather 'unreasonable assistance'...
I could understand if Bob Nobody shows up in a wheelchair, demanding immediate service, not getting it right then. But come on, I made EVERY possible effort to request the minimal standards demanded by the ACAA and I STILL ended up dragging myself around to get where I was going, on time.
I have traveled on 3 different airlines, wrote the same letters, made the same requests, and received the same kind of treatment. On the first, I watched as my wheelchair was dropped down a flight of metal stairs. On the second, I missed my connecting flight due to a lack of boarding devices, and now on my third carrier I had to drag myself off the plane to make my flight.
So what would YOU do?
Applicable ACAA Provisions:
§ 382.39 Provision of services and equipment.
Carriers shall ensure that qualified individuals with a disability are provided the following services and equipment:
(a) Carriers shall provide assistance requested by or on behalf of qualified individuals with a disability, or offered by air carrier personnel and accepted by qualified individuals with a disability, in enplaning and deplaning. The delivering carrier shall be responsible for assistance in making flight connections and transportation between gates.
(1) This assistance shall include, as needed, the services personnel and the use of ground wheelchairs, boarding wheelchairs, on-board wheelchairs where provided in accordance with this part, and ramps or mechanical lifts.
(2) Boarding shall be by level-entry loading bridges or accessible passenger lounges, where these means are available. Where these means are unavailable, assistance in boarding aircraft with 30 or fewer passenger seats shall be provided as set forth in Sec. 382.40, and assistance in boarding aircraft with 31 or more seats shall be provided as set forth in Sec. 382.40a. In no case shall carrier personnel hand-carry a passenger in order to provide boarding or deplaning assistance (i.e., directly pick up the passenger's body in the arms of one or more carrier personnel to effect a change of level that the passenger needs to enter or leave the aircraft). Hand-carrying of passengers is permitted only for emergency evacuations.
§ 382.40a Boarding assistance for large aircraft.
(a) Paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section apply to air carriers conducting passenger operations with aircraft having a seating capacity of 31 or more passengers at airports with 10,000 or more annual enplanements, in any situation where passengers are not boarded by level-entry loading bridges or accessible passenger lounges.
(b) Carriers shall, in cooperation with the airports they serve, provide boarding assistance to individuals with disabilities using mechanical lifts, ramps, or other suitable devices that do not require employees to lift or carry passengers up stairs.
(c) (1) Each carrier that does not provide passenger boarding by level-entry loading bridges or accessible passenger lounges shall negotiate in good faith with the airport operator at each airport concerning the acquisition and use of boarding assistance devices. The carrier(s) and the airport operator shall, by no later than March 4, 2002, sign a written agreement allocating responsibility for meeting the boarding assistance requirements of this section between or among the parties. The agreement shall be made available, on request, to representatives of the Department of Transportation.
(2) The agreement shall provide that all actions necessary to ensure accessible boarding for passengers with disabilities are completed as soon as practicable, but no later than December 4, 2002. All air carriers and airport operators involved are jointly responsible for the timely and complete implementation of the agreement.
(3) Under the agreement, carriers may require that passengers wishing to receive boarding assistance requiring the use of a lift for a flight check in for the flight one hour before the scheduled departure time for the flight. If the passenger checks in after this time, the carrier shall nonetheless provide the boarding assistance by lift if it can do so by making a reasonable effort, without delaying the flight.
(4) Level-entry boarding assistance under the agreement is not required with respect to float planes or with respect to any widebody aircraft determined by the Department of Transportation to be unsuitable for boarding assistance by lift, ramp, or other device on the basis that no existing boarding assistance device on the market will accommodate the aircraft without a significant risk of serious damage to the aircraft or injury to passengers or employees.
(5) When level-entry boarding assistance is not required to be provided under paragraph (c)(4) of this section, or cannot be provided as required by paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section (e.g., because of mechanical problems with a lift), boarding assistance shall be provided by any available means to which the passenger consents, except hand-carrying as defined in Sec. 382.39 (a)(2).
(6) The agreement shall ensure that all lifts and other accessibility equipment are maintained in proper working condition.
(d) The training of carrier personnel required by Sec. 382.61 shall include, for those personnel involved in providing boarding assistance, training to proficiency in the use of the boarding assistance equipment used by the carrier and appropriate boarding assistance procedures that safeguard the safety and dignity of passengers.
