2y ago

Disabled man drags himself off plane after Air Canada fails to offer wheelchair

www.theguardian.com

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/news@lemmy.world/t/584100

Airline was forced to apologize to Rodney Hodgins who flew to Las Vegas with his wife to celebrate their anniversary in August

World News @lemmy.world

Lee Duna @lemmy.nz

2y ago

Disabled man drags himself off plane after Air Canada fails to offer wheelchair

www.theguardian.com /world/2023/oct/30/air-canada-wheelchair-disabled-man-drag-himself-off-flight

News @lemmy.world

stopthatgirl7 @kbin.social

2y ago

Disabled man drags himself off plane after Air Canada fails to offer wheelchair

www.theguardian.com /world/2023/oct/30/air-canada-wheelchair-disabled-man-drag-himself-off-flight

25 comments

"Hodgins says he was offered a C$2,000 flight voucher by the airline, but said compensation would not “fix the problem” of how the airline failed its disabled passengers."
Given how much this seems to be happening I'd be for fining any airline that does this 100k. Half for the victims and half for disability advocacy groups.
- Yeah. That's the line that got me too. It's just another demonstration of how this country overall fails to, even remotely, adequately take care of disabled people. I'm on the low end of that spectrum but I have to deal with hell constantly. The more difficult a position you're in the less anyone seems to care. Example? Landlords in Ontario will openly refuse to rent to you if you're on Disability. This is flagrantly illegal but there is zero oversight and backlash for doing it just like Air Canada has zero real consequences or backlash.
  Disabled folks across the board are going to be treated like shit endlessly until there's both someone in a position to help who's willing to help and that the majority of people are willing to even care in the first place to help.
  We're going to see another story like this from Air Canada or some other major Canadian corporation this Christmas season. I guarantee it. At least one.
- Not 100k. The total ticket price of every person on that plane. Make it unprofitable to be inhuman bastards.
  
  After operation expenses I feel like that's about $100k profit per trip
I can't even remember the last time air Canada had some good press.
- They haven't earned any.
- I guess lately no press is good enough press for them.
So yeah, I hope the airline gets screwed hard for this but I still can't picture this:
“It took us struggling, in front of a dozen people as some looked away and others looked on with shame, to get him off that plane..."
wtf didn't anyone offer some help? Two dudes under each arm? Something? Oh nah, let's let the guy drag his ass off the plane with his old lady holding his feet, OK.
- Why do you feel it's the airlines responsibility to provide wheelchairs for their passengers? That's seems kind of ridiculous to me.
  
  Airlines won't let passengers use their own wheelchairs on the plane because the aisles are too narrow.
  Normally the airline has transfer wheelchairs available at the gate that are designed to fit in the plane for the purpose of moving passengers on and off the plane.
  
  Because it's the law and is their actual legal responsibility? Take it up with lawmakers if you think that's ridiculous, but generally most western societies have (rightly imho) decided that disabled people should have the ability to get around and that businesses need to accommodate that. Since the airlines won't let passengers take their own wheelchairs on board, then they need to assist those passengers in getting to their wheelchairs.
  
  Honestly, the part I don't get about this story is that there are wheelchairs everywhere in airports. That's what seems ridiculous. Someone could have grabbed one even if the airline didn't have one on board.
Holy shit, how is this being left up to an apology and possibly a voucher??
The US government should be suing the fuck out of Air Canada under the ADA...
- The US government should be suing the fuck out of Air Canada under the ADA
  For that to happen, the US government would have to actually give a shit about disabled people..
  
  I don't really know if this hate is warranted. The ADA is a really nice and forward looking piece of legislature. We do better for accessibility than most countries
Hodgins says he was offered a C$2,000 flight voucher by the airline
Sorry we utterly humiliated you and ruined your anniversary trip. Here's some coupons.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Rodney Hodgins, 49, a hardware salesman from British Columbia who requires the use of a motorized wheelchair, flew to Las Vegas with his wife, Deanna, to celebrate their anniversary in August.
When the attendant said Hodgins would have to pull himself off the plane alone, the couple at first thought she was joking – but then she repeated the request.
Hodgins was forced to use his upper body strength to haul himself past 12 rows of seats, with his wife holding his legs.
In her Facebook post, Deanna Hodgins said the event left the couple devastated.
She said the couple had planned the trip for eight months and made sure they took care of all requirements on their end.
“We use the services of a third party wheelchair assistance specialist in Las Vegas to provide safe transport on and off aircraft,” the statement read.
The original article contains 435 words, the summary contains 144 words. Saved 67%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

25 comments