AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT CREW'S SELFISHNESS HURTS DISABLED TRAVELER - 1

WHEELCHAIR SEVERELY DAMAGED BY UNCARING GROUND CREW AFTER AMERICN AIRLINES FLIGHT CREW REFUSES TO MOVE ITS LUGGAGE TO ACCOMMODATE ONBOARD WHEELCHAIR STORAGE

Editor's note: We arrived home on Dec. 31 from a week in Mexico City. The City was great, our Hotel -- the St.Regis -- was spectacular but the flight getting there was a nightmare caused by American Airlines employees who are abusive toward the needs of disabled travelers. It is no wonder why this carrier is in banktruptcy. We will share our tale of disability discrimination during the next several days. The postings are in the form of a letter to American Airlines, which has not even been addressed -- despite the urgency of our complaints.

I am writing to make American Airlines aware of a terrible situation for disabled travelers -- one that very negatively impacted my wife and me.

My wife, an attorney and the American with Disabilities Act coordinator for one of the largest counties in America, has flown dozens of AA flights with me.

She uses a super-lightweight manual wheelchair that folds in half and can be further reduced in size with easy removal of the foot rests and wheels.

We learned more than two decades ago that when we gate check her wheelchair, it often gets broken either by a careless ground crew or by other items in the cargo hold.

That is why we invested in a very expensive lightweight, collapsible wheelchair -- because the disassembled chair readily fits in the closet area entry of aircraft.