[blindkid] Missed Flight

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Sun Jun 14 17:16:18 UTC 2009


Kim:

(1) I have never heard of a "pre-board pas"; I therefore cannot comment 
intelligently except to hazard that said pass is designed to alert 
airline personnel that the person with it is OK to pre-board and that 
personnel at the jetway should not tell her to wait her turn. I do not 
think the pre-board pass mandates any sort of assistance by airline 
personnel.

(2) In fact, except for any mandates in the Air Carrier Access Act, I do 
not believe airlines are required to give passengers *any* sort of 
assistance. Therefore, whether your daughter does or does not use a cart 
bears no relationship to whether or not airline personnel have any 
obligation to assist her. That said, however, as several people on this 
list have indicated, airline personnel are far more likely to 
over-assist than to under-assist.

(3) Occasionally, an airline will call upon passengers who may be late 
for their flights' departures to alert them to this fact but it is a 
courtesy, not a requirement. If you think about it, this makes sense 
since airlines routinely overbook for flights and people routinely don't 
show up for their flights, believe it or not. And airlines are counting 
on it when doing their seating capacity and requirements calculations 
for their flights. In fact, if everyone shows up, some people may be 
bumped or asked if they might be willing to wait for another flight. 
(Incidentally, how much you wanna bet those people who are called are in 
First Class?)

(4) How can your daughter ascertain where numbered areas at gates are? 
Presumably, she isn't the only person going on the flight and if she is 
at the right gate, there will almost always be other passengers to whom 
she can show her ticket and ask them what zone her seat is in. I 
routinely do this as I do not necessarily trust airline personnel to get 
it right (they're not malevolent; they're just human!).

(5) Although it's a matter of personal preference, I tend to take 
electric carts if the gate is far away and do not consider this an 
affront (many sighted persons use them also). Dr. Jernigan used electric 
carts. This isn't always so, however. In a trip to Baltimore fairly 
recently, I flew into Atlanta and had a tight connection to my next 
flight. They said a cart had been called to take me to the next gate but 
one didn't show up quickly enough to suit me so I took off and got there 
just in time (it was quite a walk and no one believed that I would 
tackle it -- were I blind or sighted). AS it turned out, I was wise in 
that I observed two carts going in the oposite direction to me and one 
never came by going my way.

But in the end (and I know I may be flamed for this), how your daughter 
handles all these situations is up to her and although you've received 
good advice (more diverse than many NFB detractors would believe), you 
should not feel obligated to follow any of it in deference to some 
suposed NFB orthodoxy. In the end, it's what your daughter is 
comfortable with and this may -- no, will -- change over time as she 
becomes a more proficient and comfortable traveler and attends CCB and 
Youth Slam.

Your daughter should know, however, that taking certain kinds of 
assistance has consequences as does refusing assistance. It is up to her 
to figure out for herself which of those consequences she finds 
tolerable and which she does not and to what extent she wishes to be an 
example in order to defend the rights of other blind persons. Also bear 
in mind that plenty of sighted folks get assistance, too, so asking for 
assistance per se is not a bad thing and in some situations may render 
your daughter more independent than she would otherwise be. This is one 
aspect of NFB philosophy that many who only know of us from our 
detractors or who only have superficial knowledge of us often 
misunderstand: we never have said that people should always refuse or, 
for that matter, accept assistance. It's a matter of what makes each 
individual independent. In this connection, I would urge you to read Dr. 
Jernigan's seminal speech: "The Nature of Independence": if you put that 
in the search box on NFB's web site, you'll readily find it.

Hope this helps.

Mike Freeman, President
NFB of Washington

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kim Cunningham" <kim at gulfimagesphoto.com>
To: " (for parents of blind children)NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 5:36 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Missed Flight


Thank you all for your feedback on this situation. I knew that I could 
count on my NFB friends to put this into perspective. Of course, I much 
more relaxed now knowing the girls are safe and sound at CCB this 
morning and can reflect a little clearer. I am a little confused though 
about a couple of things concerning the difference between 
transportation to the gate on the cart and a pre-board pass. My daughter 
doesn't want or need cart transportation. With this said, if a blind 
person refuses cart service, then is the airline free of the 
responsibility for making sure that the person gets on the flight? Does 
the passenger then take their travel into their own hands? That makes 
sense, but then if the person gets a pre-board pass, is the airline also 
has free from responsibility for this scenario also? When my husband and 
I were at the airport yesterday, we heard a passenger's name being 
called over the intercom, and was told that his flight was
 about to depart. Why was this gentleman given the courtesy? Plus, with 
all the tight security at aiports, how can a person check in at the 
ticket counter, then check in at the gate counter, and then disappear on 
their roster of people to board the plane? Wouldn't some kind of flags 
show up for any passenger?
I realize that we need to work more on independent airline travel and we 
will put our heads together to figure out how to not let this happen 
again. Some airlines are going to be easier than others. With assigned 
seats, Kayleigh should find this much easier than flying on airlines 
such as Southwest that corrals the people around numbered areas. This 
will be a very difficult task for her to locate an area within crowds of 
people. I would love to hear how everyone handles this type of 
arrangement. You all are right that I should calm down and use this as a 
learning experience. Kayleigh will be traveling more this summer - 
flying to Detroit and also Baltimore. She will be with the CCB group and 
should be able to get expert advice from them.
Thank you all again for your advice.
Kim Cunningham

--- On Sun, 6/14/09, Melissa Green <graduate56 at juno.com> wrote:


From: Melissa Green <graduate56 at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Missed Flight
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009, 12:14 AM


I missed a flight because of the airline. I was at the wrong gate. There 
wasn't anyone around to help me find the right one. So when I did find 
it. The plane was heading down the runway. All I got was a voucher for 
some food. It sounds like the girls did what they could. I live in 
colorado. So I know that the center will take care of them and won't 
mind having to pick them up later. I do think that the supervisor was 
rude though. You should complain about that fact.
Melissa Green
Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our 
possibilities become limitless
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kim Cunningham" 
<kim at gulfimagesphoto.com>
To: "Blindkid" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2009 1:33 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Missed Flight


I am so mad right now! My daughter and another blind friend left Houston 
this morning heading to Colorado Center for the Blind in Denver. They 
are both attending the Earn and Learn Program for eight weeks. My 
daughter's flight was booked by our local DARS agency and since they 
booked a couple of days before they were to leave, they were unable to 
get a direct flight. The girls were to change planes in Dallas. My 
daughter was very confident in her abilities to get to the right gate 
and make the connection. She has flown several times by herself and had 
no worries. So, the girls got off the plane in Dallas and were met by 
airport personnel. My daughter informed him that she didn't need the 
cart and would find the gate if he could point her in the right 
direction. Apparently, one of the passengers offered to show them to 
their gate and my daughter allowed. My daughter told me that she walked 
in front of the passenger and found the gate on her own and was
feeling very proud of herself. The passenger left the girls at the gate 
and the girls then proceeded to get a pre-board pass. There were no 
seats in the pre-boarding area, so the girls sat in a row of seats next 
to this area. After waiting to hear boarding information, my daughter 
went to the desk and was told that they missed their flight! Appparently 
the speakers were not working in this area and no one from the airlines 
came to tell them of the flights departure. Does this happen to blind 
people often? Should there have been something else that my daughter 
should have said or done while at the check-in desk? I spoke to the 
supervisor and she was so rude to me! I asked her how can someone check 
in for a pre-board pass and then no one ever make sure that the 
passenger knows when the flight is boarding (especially if the passenger 
has a white cane and the airlines already know the speaker doesn't 
work)? This lady said - "Well, we don't know IF the
girls were in the pre-board area (insinuating they left the gate) and we 
didn't even know they were there (although the girls had pre-board 
passes). Since I was upset, I expressed my dismay about not being able 
to trust the airline upon which the supervisor told me the only way to 
make sure that your children are safe is to fly with them! This 
statement made me feel as though she was saying I wasn't a good mother. 
I really expected to here her apologize as soon as she got on the phone, 
but instead, she didn't want to assume any of the blame for the 
situation. I plan to file a complaint on Monday with their customer 
service department, but I need to understand whether the airlines have 
any requirements to make sure that blind people of properly notified of 
flight status. Southwest Airlines knew that the speaker wasn't working, 
but did not tell the girls. Now I'm sitting at home in Houston worrying 
about if the girls will make their next flight (4-1/2
hours later). Both of the girls are in good moods and reading braille 
books and listening to their Victor Stream at the moment. The people at 
CCB are going to have to go out of their way to pick up the girls at a 
much later time also. Y'all tell me - Am I being an over-protective 
mother or do I have a right to be upset with the way Southwest Airlines 
deals with blind passengers?
One pee-o'd Mom,
Kim Cunningham
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