AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT CREW'S SELFISHNESS HURTS DISABLED TRAVELER - 6

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.

We caught a cab to the St. Regis Hotel and by the time we got there, the chair was broken again and my wife was almost falling out of it.

Because the St. Regis is a 5-star property, it called a member of its engineering staff to try to make a substitute plastic cap out of materials on hand.

The hotel assistant manager could not believe that we were treated so poorly by American.

Finally, we got a decent substitute cap. But it continually fell out during our week-long visit and we had to borrow duct and electrical tape to try to hold the cap in place to keep the rod from falling out.