Marine double-amputee’s treatment on Delta flight angers other vets

[traderjake]

Marine double-amputee’s treatment on Delta flight angers other vets

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2012/12/13/marine-double-amputee-gets-help-from-fellow-vets-angered-by-delta-airlines-treatment/

 

[WorldTraveler]

Without even knowing what happened onboard, three red flags jump right out from the article.

1. He was running a high fever and was traveling.

2. He had the expectation that he should be seated in first class before he boarded the flight.

3. Expecting to have been upgraded at departure time is all the more of a recipe for disappointment (he complained about being paraded down the aisle in a narrow airplane wheelchair but it would have been ok for it to have happened if he was upgraded at departure time?)

He had set himself up to be disappointed and he was... I'm not sure in that situation anyone would have succeeded.... and in reality he shouldn't have been traveling with a high fever. Just like the overweight lady that got debated on here, he should have never been allowed on the flight.

I'm not sure we will know exactly what happened but there is enough in the article to raise questions w/o even knowing what happened.

 

[traderjake]

"In fact, Gafford added, two first-class passengers offered to switch seats with Brown, “but the flight attendant said we have to go."

 

[WorldTraveler]

I'm not debating whether the DL staff handled the situation correctly... there is a very good possibility that they didn't.
But the situation started w/ a lot of red flags that should have been dealt with before the passenger ever boarded starting w/ the fact that he was clearly too ill to have been on a commercial flight in a confined place with alot of people.

Add in his expectations of being given first class before he ever boarded and apparently not having that expectation handled until departure time when he wanted to move to the front of the aircraft.

A bad situation was not handled well from the beginning.

 

[traderjake]

He never said he expected to be put in First Class.

What upset him was being wheeled to the back row of an already full boarded airplane.

 

[WorldTraveler]

step back and reread what you just wrote.

He arrived at the aircraft after it was boarded and was offended that he couldn't sit at the front of the aircraft.

DL like most airlines boards wheelchair passengers first... if they are at the gate. He arrived after the flight was boarded and wanted to receive VIP treatment - and asked other people to move around in order to avoid sitting at the back of the plane.

All he had to do to receive the standard treatment that most airlines including DL provides for wheelchair passengers was to arrive at the gate ontime.

He didn't do that... I don't know why but perhaps it was because of his health issues.

Nonetheless, airlines are public transportation, not a private air ambulance. Expectations have to match those realities.

 

[FA Mikey]

I am always amazed you can blame everything on anybody, or any other airline. Its simply not deltas fault.

Its not surprising to see your negative rating so high. Would seem as though people dont believe you or trust anything you say. But since you managed to get it down from around 850 down to 600 in a couple weeks I guess you found a better way to fix it. People know who and what to believe.

 

[traderjake]

step back and reread what you just wrote.

He arrived at the aircraft after it was boarded and was offended that he couldn't sit at the front of the aircraft.

DL like most airlines boards wheelchair passengers first... if they are at the gate. He arrived after the flight was boarded and wanted to receive VIP treatment - and asked other people to move around in order to avoid sitting at the back of the plane.

All he had to do to receive the standard treatment that most airlines including DL provides for wheelchair passengers was to arrive at the gate ontime.

He didn't do that... I don't know why but perhaps it was because of his health issues.

Where in the the article does it say he arrived after the flight was boarded?

 

[Spock]

Let's not forget the past Mr. Peabody.. http://www.startribune.com/local/116409809.html?refer=y
Don't really have all the facts "Where in the the article does it say he arrived after the flight was boarded?"
Let's just say he was late. Why? Could this be a reason? :huh:

 

[WorldTraveler]

The article says

1. Knighton, a former helicopter pilot with nearly 30 years of service, who turned out to be seated in the same back row as Brown, assumed that because he boarded last, he would be seated up front for comfort and ease of exit in case of emergency. Instead, she wrote in a complaint obtained by “She The People,” he was squeezed into a narrow aviation wheelchair that “bumped up against stationary aisle seats as he was wheeled through the aircraft. [He] was obviously humiliated by being paraded through the aircraft and was visibly upset. I touched Brown on his shoulders and asked if he was okay. Tears ran down his face, but he did not cry out loud.”

Plenty of evidence he boarded after the rest of the passengers.

If he was late because he was on a connecting flight, then the whole situation would have been different.... but the article didn't say that.

It said he was flying ATL-WAS.

I have no problem w/ calling a spade a spade but from the very beginning of this article, there are a number of red flags that indicated that the situation couldn't have been appropriately handled to meet his expectations which were out of line... including the fact that he was traveling sick and with a high fever.
DL does offer seat assignments in advance. Did he inform anyone when he made his reservation of his need for assistance?

The "narrow aviation wheelchair" is standard issue in the airline industry.

I have no qualms w/ doing all possible to help out but he flew on a public airline, not a private air ambulance. Arriving at the gate late - and perhaps he was on a connecting flight but this article which managed to find something wrong for everything else DL did doesn't mentioned in. Sick. And with the expectation that he should have been seated up front.

Mikey,
you always seem to come out of the woodwork over here only when you can find something wrong w/ DL and yet seem to get mighty defensive of anything said about your own AA.

You came on this thread already convinced DL was wrong... just like you have on other threads.
I'm not so gullible as to believe everything that is put on the internet.
My reputation vote is what it is because I have challenged the establishment on this board and shown year after year that the popular position isn't always - and often - the right one.

I can write out a laundry list of topics and names of people regarding topics I challenged people on only to end up w/ negative votes; they were wrong and I was right on topics that are black and white enough to be able to say that one side was right or not.

I'm not hear to protect anyone's valued position including DL's. If anyone is wrong, we'll call it what it is.

Shall I start the list w/ your name and the topics you challenged me on only be proven wrong?

 

[nbmcg01]

My son's disability is paraplegia and he would NEVER assume/suggest that he be boarded in f/c. Aisle chairs are just that, aisle chairs and it is the means for getting to one's seat. His airline of choice is SWA but I honestly don't think it would make any difference what airline he was on... He will not fly on an LBJ (little bitty jet) because of the chance of no jetways/jetbridges.

 

[737823]

There are two sides to every story. Without being on-board the flight and seeing exactly what went on its hard to say definitively what could or should have been done. By and large US carriers have a tradition of extending special privileges and appreciation to our service men and women. I've offered my F seat to military passengers, sometimes it is accepted with appreciation other times they appreciate the gesture but politely decline. It seems here the door had already been closed and the FAs had to performed their assigned duties as stipulated by DL policy and the FAA, and passengers can't be moving seats on an active taxi nor can the flight depart until everyone is seated. I'm sure employee posters would be quick to point out to a elite level FF passenger entitled to an upgrade that "the door has closed" or "it's out of their hands" or "in the interest of SAFETY and adherence to FAA regulations you can't switch seats". I'm not saying this is correct just another perspective to consider.

It also seems lately DL has been subject to unfounded charges of being anti-Semitic (the Saudi Arabia visa requirements that every carriers enforces) and the military baggage allowance last summer. I don't believe DL is anti-Semitic (and if I did I would make to say so) nor does it appear to me they have anything against military personnel. Go read blogs, YouTube, and Google hundreds of bad experiences people have with the airlines that are blown out of proportion and don't tell the complete story. The fact is to much of the traveling public flying is an experience they don't enjoy and when things go wrong the airlines are easy targets for the media.

Josh

 

[gizmo_sc]

Had this Marine flown on SWA even if he was late to the gate, SWA employees would have went out of their way to try to accomodiate him. In the past few years I have had many military men who have lost their legs serving out country. Most of them were SUPER NICE, they dont feel sorry for themselves. Once you take them down to the aircraft many of they literaly swing from wheelchairs to their seat. There is one Marine who travels frequently on SWA he reaches up the the overhead bins and lifts his body over to his seat. I have had several military guys come late to a flight due to security. OUR SWA passengers see the situation and move to another seat so they can be seated to the front of the aircraft. Seeing a military guy with no legs walking down or up a jetway with his head held proud is a great sight. Those that do have to ride in wheelchairs due to not have the prosthetic legs yet do the same.

 

[LD3]

It also seems lately DL has been subject to unfounded charges of being anti-Semitic (the Saudi Arabia visa requirements that every carriers enforces) and the military baggage allowance last summer.

So the military baggage fiasco was made up?

 

[WorldTraveler]

No, the baggage fiasco wasn't made up.... the US government has contract fares with airlines that include baggage limitations. Beyond that, airlines extend special provisions to military personnel for personal travel. DL had established procedures which their people followed. As a result of the "fiasco" the free baggage limits - whic are most certainly factored in to the cost of military tickets - was further raised.

There is no free lunch.

gizmo,
EVERY US airline does a very good job of caring for military personnel and, as a nation that is grateful for the sacrifice our service people have made, that is exactly what we want them to do.

But the simple fact is that there are some military customers - just like with general customer - will not be fully happy w/ any airline's best efforts.

We've read no shortage of accounts of customer service infractions involving WN and its "general" passengers and I have not commented on them any more than I do in any passenger situation which originates from the media for the SOLE reason that any story involves two sides and a media account taking the passenger's side never includes the "other side."

I don't know what actually happened - most of us never will.

And I'm not blatantly saying that DL employees couldn't have made a mistake.

I am saying and said from the beginning of this thread that there were indications from the published account that raised red flags about the "fairness" of the account, including that the passenger was traveling with a high fever. Add in that they were offended at being wheeled to the back of the aircraft and yet said nothing about arriving late due to a late connection and you have to ask why they were not at the gate early enough to pre-board when the plane wasn't full.

But all airlines use aisle wheelchairs which are a sorry excuse for mobility - but they are a function of aisle width. And flight attendants don't board passengers via aisle wheelchairs.

If DL screwed up in this situation, they should make it right.

But I'm no more willing to accept one person's word about a situation than I would if someone told me that FA Mikey was rude to a passenger on his flight or that a WN passenger rec'd harsh treatment from WN employees.

The media reports in these situations are invariably incomplete which means that people on an internet chat forum are inevitably going to have incomplete information and jump to incorrect conclusions.

The point is to leave accounts of any situation like this to the passenger, the airline's passenger service department, and the government if the case violates established laws.