AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 7

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

The entire American Airlines flight crew from the Miami to Mexico City flight should go straight to hell.

I send them all straight to hell for smugly refusing to move two pieces of crew luggage into the ample overhead bin space on the far from full flight.

The selfish pig bastards deserve to lose their mobility.

Maybe then they would drop their inhumane “me first and to he'll with a disabled person’s needs attitude” when they realize a working wheelchair is crucial to my wife's mobility. 

The Mexico City St. Regis’ fabulous service only served to underscore how much contempt and mean spiritedness America Airlines harbors towards its disabled guests who pay trough the nose to be treated like garbage unfit to fly. 

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 6

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

In Mexico City’s airport, a kindly customs agent gave us enough tape to make do with very primitive repairs to Heidi’s wheelchair so we could limp to the taxi stand.

We explained during check in that American Airlines wantonly damaged Heidi’s wheelchair and asked if anything could be done while we got situated in the room.

We hoped for a repair man miracle.

The stellar St. Regis made believers of us.

The St. Regis engineering crew arrived within minutes to our luxury room and started hand crafting enough parts to get Heidi's wheelchair in working order for the rest of the visit to the big city. 

For those keeping score, St. Regis crew - even on sacred Christmas Day - deserves to go to haven for the way it patiently rescued Heidi from a week of no mobility due to an airline’s extreme negligence.

 

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 5.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 5

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

Cargo stowage of fragile wheelchairs causes breakage, half ruined trips and little beyond a sneer and finger pointing us toward the baggage claim.

That’s right.

Wheelchair damage is not considered a human being issue, it’s considered a baggage issue.

That says a lot about how American Airlines, and all carriers for that matter, classify disabled customers as things that are a problem to deal with – not as human beings with mobility issues.

The Obama Administration would do well to investigate this situation and pass landmark legislation that improves and protects the rights of millions of disabled business people and leisure travelers who can barely use air travel for mobility.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 4.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 4

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

The crass and unapologetic crew ambled right past us and stranded Heidi in a painful position with a broken wheelchair. 

This kind of despicable behavior toward disabled fliers is the RULE, not the exception from American Airlines.

We want to support American, because it employs thousands in our hometown of Miami.

We have to patronize it because American dominates the trade for Latin America and beyond at our local Miami International Airport.

But time and time again, its workers are rude beyond belief and they seem to almost take delight in manhandling Heidi’s wheelchair.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 3.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 3

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

Here’s a recap of our 2011 holiday season nightmare.

Even though our Miami to Mexico City flight had tons of room to stow Heidi's wheelchair on board, the surly crew whined about saving the closet space for their own roomy luggage storage.  

Heidi's wheelchair, her legs in effect, was tossed down below with zero regard for how essential it is for her mobility.

When it came up from the cargo hold in Mexico City, it was severely damaged.

This was Christmas Day, so there was no prayer of finding a repair shop that would be open. 

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 2.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 2

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

When Heidi’s compact, but expensive wheelchair gets stowed in cargo, it breaks.

We currently are awaiting a damage assessment from American, to see if it will even pay to fix the damage it did.

Of course the air carrier will never offer to compensate us for the hour wasted at the airport, waiting in a long line to deal with poorly trained baggage complaint people.

Nor will they compensate us for the pain Heidi suffered when the wheelchair malfunctioned as a result of American’s damage.

She hurt her hip and will suffer for weeks.

This unacceptable disability discrimination from American Airlines is an almost exact repeat from the week between Christmas and New Year’s 2011.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow December 1.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SHOULD BE FINED -- PART 1

WHEELCHAIR USERS ARE ABUSED

AGAIN AND AGAIN BY AIR CARRIERS

We sat down to write about our nearly perfect trip to Mexico City last year.

It was facilitated by our outstanding hosts at the St. Regis Hotel Mexico City.

What wasn’t perfect?

Our treatment from American Airlines.

American, and all airlines, treat disabled people horribly.

We never have risked ruining Heidi’s $20,000 power wheelchair by putting it in the hands of American Airlines.

We have been burned time and time again even when traveling with a simple, lightweight manual wheelchair.

It happened again this Thanksgiving, with American refusing to place Heidi’s collapsible little wheelchair into the closet on board.

Our sad tale of how disabled consumers are forced to fly the unfriendly skies continues tomorrow November 30.