A mix-up at the gate meant there was no wheelchair to help the 29-year-old off the plane, so he was told to wait for one to be found.
The problem was Neal needed to use the restroom. His disability made it too difficult to use the one on the plane. He had already waited more than 15 minutes for the rest of the passengers to disembark, and the wait for an aisle chair -- a narrow, specialized wheelchair to take disabled passengers down the airplane aisle -- had now lasted another 15 minutes.
"I was trying to get them to understand that this is why I don't want to wait another 15 to 20 minutes," Neal said.
After being told repeatedly to wait, Neal said, he couldn't any longer. He said he got out of his seat and as the flight attendants watched, he crawled his way up the aisle and to the gangway, where a wheelchair was then ready.
After the incident, he said, he simply went home.
"I didn't contact United at all, because I honestly didn't believe they cared," he said.
As it turns out, Neal said, one of the flight attendants later felt sorry about the incident and reported it to the company. A United representative called Neal the day after the flight to apologize.
Neal said he is pleased with the airline's response. He says he never made a complaint, and his story only drew attention because he posted on Facebook that he was happy United reached out to him.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/25/us/united-airlines-disabled-man/index.html
The problem was Neal needed to use the restroom. His disability made it too difficult to use the one on the plane. He had already waited more than 15 minutes for the rest of the passengers to disembark, and the wait for an aisle chair -- a narrow, specialized wheelchair to take disabled passengers down the airplane aisle -- had now lasted another 15 minutes.
"I was trying to get them to understand that this is why I don't want to wait another 15 to 20 minutes," Neal said.
After being told repeatedly to wait, Neal said, he couldn't any longer. He said he got out of his seat and as the flight attendants watched, he crawled his way up the aisle and to the gangway, where a wheelchair was then ready.
After the incident, he said, he simply went home.
"I didn't contact United at all, because I honestly didn't believe they cared," he said.
As it turns out, Neal said, one of the flight attendants later felt sorry about the incident and reported it to the company. A United representative called Neal the day after the flight to apologize.
Neal said he is pleased with the airline's response. He says he never made a complaint, and his story only drew attention because he posted on Facebook that he was happy United reached out to him.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/25/us/united-airlines-disabled-man/index.html
