So there’s a headline that caught my eye of, “US appeals court revives lawsuit vs United Airlines over wheelchair,” and I immediately did a Scooby Doo “Ruh roh” double-take, then went to the article. Seems a woman had an issue with asking for a wheelchair from an agent; the woman had back problems and the agent basically told her to deal with it and stand in line.
Honestly, that’s just how United agents are. Okay, not ALL of them, but I’ve flown them enough to have been mistreated, even flying on a purchased first class ticket (yes, purchased – NOT upgraded to first).
So this lady sued, and the suit has been revived. This should be interesting…
Thing is, I can see both sides, in a way. For United, it doesn’t matter – if someone requests a wheelchair, then the answer is ALWAYS going to be, “Yes, we can help you with that,” and nothing else. I mean seriously – do you want to get your ass fired?
But then again, this person, when they checked in – or even when they purchased their ticket, should have had ample opportunity to alert United that they were going to need a wheelchair. It shouldn’t have been an “out of the blue, at the gate” request.
But ultimately it’s United’s fault here. Who do they think they are – Delta? Where they forced a passenger to crawl down the aisle and across the tarmac to their wheelchair? C’mon!