I almost got arrested yesterday at #LAX.
I would be more shocked, except this is the third time in the past 20 years that someone in authority at an airport has threatened me with this outcome, solely because of my #disability .
I fly a fair amount for work and competitions. Yesterday I was returning home after picking up a custom compound bow for my Paralympic journey.
When the flight landed, I let my seatmates out. When the plane was empty, I moved to the first row. This lets me see my “personal wheelchair,“ as they call it, arrive on the jetway.
Usually, it takes 10-12 minutes. The wheelchair usually comes out with the strollers. The flight attendants dismissed the airline wheelchair pushers because hey, I didn't need one. I had my own personal customized chair. My legs.
The strollers came and went. The people with gate-checked luggage all left with their stuff. I had 90 minutes for my connection. I don't make flight connections that are less than an hour. Getting my chair from my first flight and then repeating the same miserable paperwork process with the following flight (because God forbid they can centralize the data) takes a *minimum* of 20 minutes.
Every 5 minutes, I checked with the flight attendant, who was antsy to leave. She mentioned how hungry she was several times. After 30 minutes, she asked me to leave the plane. I could see they were loading luggage for the next flight, and I pointed that out. She made it sound like she was trying to do me a favor, but clearly, she was trying to get rid of me so she could eat and didn't seem to care whether or not I got my chair.
I politely refused. She then played her trump card “If you interfere with the next flight leaving, you might get arrested.“
At that point, I was pretty steamed. My phone battery had died, or I would have started recording. Up until that point, I had been polite. But the search had taken so long that I feared missing my connecting flight. “I don't give a shit about you or the next flight,“ I responded. “I entrusted your airline with my $4000 piece of medical equipment that I need to function. I will leave when you give me MY chair, and if I'm arrested, the headline will be 'Disability rights advocate arrested after airline attempts to strand her without her wheelchair.' “
At this point, the new pilot came on board and asked what was happening. He went down to the baggage area, had a visibly heated discussion with the baggage folx, came back, and told me my chair would be up in 10 minutes. I did not leave the plane.
I cannot begin to describe how tired I am of a lifetime of being treated like an inconvenience, someone that can be pushed off to the side because they aren't important. If I eliminated airlines every time I was treated poorly, I would never be able to travel anywhere.
I'm buying an airtag for my chair. More #DisabilityTax
If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone. Airlines, you need to do more!!!
I would be more shocked, except this is the third time in the past 20 years that someone in authority at an airport has threatened me with this outcome, solely because of my #disability .
I fly a fair amount for work and competitions. Yesterday I was returning home after picking up a custom compound bow for my Paralympic journey.
When the flight landed, I let my seatmates out. When the plane was empty, I moved to the first row. This lets me see my “personal wheelchair,“ as they call it, arrive on the jetway.
Usually, it takes 10-12 minutes. The wheelchair usually comes out with the strollers. The flight attendants dismissed the airline wheelchair pushers because hey, I didn't need one. I had my own personal customized chair. My legs.
The strollers came and went. The people with gate-checked luggage all left with their stuff. I had 90 minutes for my connection. I don't make flight connections that are less than an hour. Getting my chair from my first flight and then repeating the same miserable paperwork process with the following flight (because God forbid they can centralize the data) takes a *minimum* of 20 minutes.
Every 5 minutes, I checked with the flight attendant, who was antsy to leave. She mentioned how hungry she was several times. After 30 minutes, she asked me to leave the plane. I could see they were loading luggage for the next flight, and I pointed that out. She made it sound like she was trying to do me a favor, but clearly, she was trying to get rid of me so she could eat and didn't seem to care whether or not I got my chair.
I politely refused. She then played her trump card “If you interfere with the next flight leaving, you might get arrested.“
At that point, I was pretty steamed. My phone battery had died, or I would have started recording. Up until that point, I had been polite. But the search had taken so long that I feared missing my connecting flight. “I don't give a shit about you or the next flight,“ I responded. “I entrusted your airline with my $4000 piece of medical equipment that I need to function. I will leave when you give me MY chair, and if I'm arrested, the headline will be 'Disability rights advocate arrested after airline attempts to strand her without her wheelchair.' “
At this point, the new pilot came on board and asked what was happening. He went down to the baggage area, had a visibly heated discussion with the baggage folx, came back, and told me my chair would be up in 10 minutes. I did not leave the plane.
I cannot begin to describe how tired I am of a lifetime of being treated like an inconvenience, someone that can be pushed off to the side because they aren't important. If I eliminated airlines every time I was treated poorly, I would never be able to travel anywhere.
I'm buying an airtag for my chair. More #DisabilityTax
If it happened to me, it could happen to anyone. Airlines, you need to do more!!!
