Airline was forced to apologize to Rodney Hodgins who flew to Las Vegas with his wife to celebrate their anniversary in August
  • SamuelRJankis@lemmy.worldEnglish
    452·
    1 year ago

    “Hodgins says he was offered a C$2,000 flight voucher by the airline, but said compensation would not “fix the problem” of how the airline failed its disabled passengers.”

    Given how much this seems to be happening I’d be for fining any airline that does this 100k. Half for the victims and half for disability advocacy groups.

  • Supervisor194@lemmy.world
    241·
    1 year ago

    So yeah, I hope the airline gets screwed hard for this but I still can’t picture this:

    “It took us struggling, in front of a dozen people as some looked away and others looked on with shame, to get him off that plane…"

    wtf didn’t anyone offer some help? Two dudes under each arm? Something? Oh nah, let’s let the guy drag his ass off the plane with his old lady holding his feet, OK.

    • baconisaveg@lemmy.ca
      142·
      1 year ago

      Why do you feel it’s the airlines responsibility to provide wheelchairs for their passengers? That’s seems kind of ridiculous to me.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
        231·
        1 year ago

        Airlines won’t let passengers use their own wheelchairs on the plane because the aisles are too narrow.

        Normally the airline has transfer wheelchairs available at the gate that are designed to fit in the plane for the purpose of moving passengers on and off the plane.

          • Ookami38
            181·
            1 year ago

            Disabilities are one of those things we, rightfully, take making accomodations for seriously. I’ll admit I’m not familiar with Canadian law, but at least in the states, this would ABSOLUTELY be an ADA violation, for good reason, failure to make reasonable, or any, accomodation.

      • festus@lemmy.caEnglish
        201·
        1 year ago

        Because it’s the law and is their actual legal responsibility? Take it up with lawmakers if you think that’s ridiculous, but generally most western societies have (rightly imho) decided that disabled people should have the ability to get around and that businesses need to accommodate that. Since the airlines won’t let passengers take their own wheelchairs on board, then they need to assist those passengers in getting to their wheelchairs.

      • slackassassin
        3·
        1 year ago

        Honestly, the part I don’t get about this story is that there are wheelchairs everywhere in airports. That’s what seems ridiculous. Someone could have grabbed one even if the airline didn’t have one on board.

  • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.mlEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    Hodgins says he was offered a C$2,000 flight voucher by the airline

    Sorry we utterly humiliated you and ruined your anniversary trip. Here’s some coupons.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Rodney Hodgins, 49, a hardware salesman from British Columbia who requires the use of a motorized wheelchair, flew to Las Vegas with his wife, Deanna, to celebrate their anniversary in August.

    When the attendant said Hodgins would have to pull himself off the plane alone, the couple at first thought she was joking – but then she repeated the request.

    Hodgins was forced to use his upper body strength to haul himself past 12 rows of seats, with his wife holding his legs.

    In her Facebook post, Deanna Hodgins said the event left the couple devastated.

    She said the couple had planned the trip for eight months and made sure they took care of all requirements on their end.

    “We use the services of a third party wheelchair assistance specialist in Las Vegas to provide safe transport on and off aircraft,” the statement read.

    The original article contains 435 words, the summary contains 144 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!