Influencer reveals how she travels the world whereas legally blind
Molly Burke is legally blind and has had many laborious instances touring via an airport.
Staff Video, USA TODAY
Sean Chang did one thing in November that the majority vacationers have finished at the least a couple of times – he reduce it a bit too shut for his flight. But in contrast to most vacationers, the race to the boarding door led to him having to crawl to his seat.
Chang stated the safety line at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was unusually lengthy on Nov. 3, and he wound up attending to his gate with solely about 10 minutes to spare earlier than departure.
For most vacationers, these 10 minutes would end in a sigh of reduction, however Chang is paraplegic, and attending to the gate by such a slim margin solely led to extra issues.
“I was told, ‘hey, there is no aisle chair ready for you,’ ” Chang instructed USA TODAY. Because he depends on a wheelchair to get round, he requires particular help to board flights. Normally he’s capable of reserve an aisle chair prematurely. But Chang stated this time, his request for help didn’t present up together with his reservation. Delta Air Lines confirmed it didn’t obtain the request.
Delta stated it supplied to accommodate Chang on a later flight, however he stated that wasn’t an excellent choice for him, both.
Like many vacationers with mobility limitations, Chang stops consuming and consuming about 24 hours earlier than flying as a result of airplane bogs aren’t accessible to him. He stated delaying his journey plans would imply going even longer with out meals or water.
Chang stated Delta’s gate agent instructed him he might board the flight by any means, and he stated he would crawl to his seat if he needed to.
“Am I really going to have to crawl to get to my seat?” Chang stated. “It’s extremely humiliating, especially being on the floor and everybody’s above you looking down.”
Ultimately, that was how Chang selected to board the flight. Delta acknowledged the incident in a press release to USA TODAY and stated its coverage permits clients to resolve easy methods to board the plane if help isn’t available.
“Although Delta employees offered to move the customer to a direct flight less than 1.5 hours later to allow for proper boarding assistance, the customer opted to board himself,” the assertion stated. “To provide you with the best service, we recommend customers in need of mobility assistance share this information ahead of their journey, a feature available on delta.com and in the Fly Delta App.”
The airline additionally stated it has grievance decision officers available at each airport to assist deal with the wants of vacationers with disabilities. However, its employees discovered no violation occurred in Chang’s case as a result of he voluntarily selected easy methods to board his flight.
For Chang, the incident simply highlighted how inaccessible air journey could be.
“We need to make sure disabled people have rights, equal rights,” he stated, including that he thinks airways have to face harsher monetary penalties when journey goes unsuitable for folks with disabilities.
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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated the DOT is contemplating new guidelines that will make these sorts of incidents extra expensive for airways and has beforehand made statements agreeing with Chang’s position.
Buttigieg stated airways have to face more durable financial incentives, together with attainable lawsuits from disabled vacationers who’re mistreated. Currently, individual flyers will not be capable of sue airways straight.
Chang stated that though Delta refunded his flights and offered him with miles and vouchers for compensation, he feels airways nonetheless have lots of room for enchancment.
“I wanted to be compensated for something you can’t put a price on,” he stated.
Zach Wichter is a journey reporter for USA TODAY primarily based in New York. You can attain him at [email protected]
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