I am disabled and was left stranded on the jet bridge floor at Heathrow by American Airlines when pre-booked special assistance did not arrive. Instead of helping, a crew member filmed me in distress. Due to my various health conditions I need a wheelchair to board and disembark. There was no issue at the John F Kennedy airport in New York. But when the plane landed at Heathrow no one came to get me. I eventually inquired. I was told a wheelchair had arrived and shooed me on to the jet bridge. I could see it was not there, so I turned around to sit back down to wait.
However, crew members blocked the door and told me it was illegal to re-enter the cabin and ordered me to wait in the jet bridge. I was no longer able to stand, so was forced to sit on the floor. The cabin crew watched my distress from the door and one filmed me on his phone. The remaining passengers, and even the pilots, had to step over me with their luggage. In the three months since, I’ve complained several times to the airline but it blames me for the incident, and refuses to investigate the filming because it was on a personal phone. I have been disabled most of my life, but have never felt so dehumanised.
AC, London
American Airline’s declared mission is “to care for people on life’s journey”. Its attitude to your experience is quite extraordinary. When you complained, it first told you that you did not request special assistance, despite the requirement being stated on your booking, while simultaneously insisting that assistance staff were at the gate when the flight landed. It confirmed that a wheelchair was provided at 9.08 am without mentioning that this was more than 80 minutes after the flight landed. It reassured you that “constructive criticism” helps it maintain “focus” and offered you 10,000 bonus miles.
I met with similar insouciance when I contacted the airline. It took three attempts, over three weeks, to elicit a response which, three months after you first complained, amounted to: “We have reached out to the customer to learn more about her experience. We hope to resolve this matter soon.”
This contradicts a letter sent at the same time to you, seemingly as a result of my overtures, which stated that it had investigated and concluded that there had been no regulatory violations or harassing conduct. It added oddly: “We understand our policies can sometimes be confusing, and we are sorry for any inconvenience, or uncertainty, you may have experienced.”
It offered a $400 credit note for its delayed reply. If you want to take this further, you can complain to the Civil Aviation Authority’s passenger advice and complaints team which has powers to mediate with airlines, although not to impose solutions.
And mobility issues continue at Eurostar
In April I highlighted the plight of a passenger with disabilities who’d booked wheelchair assistance from Eurostar and faced being left stranded by a new policy which prevented staff pushing his chair. Another passenger with impaired mobility was advised to cancel his booking as Eurostar staff refused to deploy a ramp to board the train.
In response to my investigation, Eurostar rewrote its accessibility policy and retrained its staff. It told me it was committed to providing a “safe and inclusive travel experience for all”. A month after this pledge, wheelchair user PN travelled alone from his home in Belgium in his new fold-up mobility scooter. He’d invested in it precisely to avoid being stranded by Eurostar’s unpredictable assistance policy.
“I successfully made the trip from Brussels to London, but when I arrived at St Pancras for the return journey, I was told that my scooter was not compliant, because the back rest was not high enough,” he wrote. “I was also told that I would need to purchase a ticket for a seat and carry the scooter, which, with my mobility issues, is not something I could do.
“Eurostar’s website merely states that mobility scooters must not exceed specified dimensions, which mine does not. There’s no mention of back rests. I spent 40 minutes on Eurostar’s helpline, to no avail. Ten minutes before check-in closed, I was finally allowed to travel, but told I would be prevented using it again.”
Poor training on top of a thoughtless, since amended, accessibility policy, means that passengers with disabilities can have no certainty that they will receive the assistance required by equalities law.
Staff seem to make the rules up as they go. I put this to Eurostar, which told me accessibility was a priority and admitted “some miscommunications and gaps in our service”. It says it has re-briefed staff on “best practice”, offered you a free return trip, and promised your next booking will be flagged up, so personalised assistance can be provided.
I asked what it plans to do to address ongoing staff confusion about disability obligations, but it did not reply.
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