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this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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Undoubtably, the airline doesn’t allow them to help because of “lawsuit”
And while I agree, they should have had the wheelchair there in the first place, I don’t see that as the core problem. While this incident wouldn’t have happened if the wheelchair were there, there will always be problems that need to be addressed in real time while running their business.
This incident shows how they respond to problems and it is terrifying. Sure, the company could make sure there are wheelchairs on every plane so that this particular incident never happens again. But the broader issue is that they appear to have actively disempowered their employees from solving problems or doing anything outside their specific list of duties. Problems will always happen and you can’t have a precise plan for every possible problem. That’s whey employees need the power to solve those problems. Otherwise you get evil shit happening like this.
Edit: and the solution was simple. If you don’t have the wheelchair you are required to have, you wait for a wheelchair (or give the passenger get the option to be physically assisted off). Yes, that is painful to the business. It means delays. But that is the obvious solution.
That's actually a really good point about the staff and their freedom/confidence to solve problems on their own initiative. Hadn't thought of that, but you're spot on.
Also agree on delaying the plane, I meant to say that myself. Imagine rushing the guy off AND not helping him... unbelievable.
My wife is disabled and needs wheelchair assistance at airports. Stuff like this happens to her all the time. I was not shocked to see the poster above saying it happens 30% of the time to them. The problem is capitalism, bureaucracy and lack of accountability.
Wheelchair assistance is provided not by the airline, but by the airport, who hires some local company to do it.
These companies without exception are the lowest bidder, and their management is trying to scrape maximum profit by providing minimum service.
This means not enough staff, staff who don't care because they are woefully underpaid, site supervisors who are incompetent and under trained and wheelchairs that are poorly maintained.
My wife often has to endure wheelchairs that are like that shopping cart I'm sure you've pushed that lists to the left / only three wheels touch the ground / makes a "clunk" sound every few steps... These pieces of junk can actually really hurt her and have contributed to at least one ER visit.
So she started speaking up for herself, complaining and asking for better wheelchairs. Well... The assistance staff (who never speak English as a first language and often just can't even parse what she's saying) have refused, ignored her, told her other chairs aren't available when we're literally looking at chairs just sitting there empty.
I have told the assistance staff to wait with her and our luggage, gone and gotten another chair myself and then switched her into it while they stand there looking like an annoyed goat, not lifting a finger.
This isn't even counting the absurd number of times there is NO wheel chair assistance at the gate when we arrive, or there are four people who need it but only two chairs, or the gate agents call for a chair and it takes them 45 minutes to come. I have called airlines on her behalf when she's traveling alone, because she's stranded in some arrival gate with no assistance, after having to drag herself and her bags off the plane alone and the gate agents have left her there alone. We've had shockingly similar experiences in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Denver, Las Vegas and Albuquerque. It's chronic, and a result of industry cutting corners and doing the bare minimum they can get away with.