[nagdu] airport adventure

Thu Aug 11 01:08:00 UTC 2011

Hey Sam,

Nobody in this or any other universe would _ever be able to force me
to take my dog's harness, leash or collar off. The minute that
happens, I maintain verbal control, but that's not enough for my
comfort level in a busy airport. This is where I would have raised
hell. Second, I would have taken up the issue of seating with the
flight attendant simply because of the reason that they are often
unwilling to delay a flight, and you telling them that the "ADA"
doesn't have anything in it about forcing a disabled passenger to sit
in a certain row will normally fix the problem, result in you being
moved, and the airline staff being educated. I would not be forced to
_ever remove anything from my animal, and I would not _ever sit in a
bulkhead seat, even if it would mean rescheduling and making a larger
issue of it. That's just me, and I'm sure not everyone would handle
that stuff the same.

Thanks.

On 10.08.2011, Sam Hogle <smhogle at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all. I thought this would be interesting since we've been on this
> topic lately. Mason and I spent the last week in NC, and had an
> interesting experiense today that I haven't had before and hope to not
> have again. Normally, I've noticed that airport staff are generally
> nervous around Mason. However, the guy working security was the exact
> opposite. In fact, when the harness set off the alarm, he wanted me to
> remove it along with the leash and collar. I thought this was odd, but
> since the guy was cooperating with me in helping me keep control of him,
> something that was not an issue since he was behaving, and it sped up
> the process, I wasn't sure what good complaining would do. Also, I'd
> never heard of this happening before. So, that resolved itself and we
> continued on our way. At that point, I was thinking that things would go
> smoothly when the gate agent walked over and said that I "Had to sit in
> the bulk head." I patiently informed her that I did not have to do this,
> to which she responded that it was their policy. I followed up with the
> fact that the ADA keeps this from happening, to which she replied, "It
> doesn't say anything like that in the MDA." You got it people, she
> couldn't even get the name right. Anyway, she went to talk to her
> supervisor, and came back with the same answer. I told her that he
> physically wouldn't fit there since they couldn't block off the seat
> next to me and there was nothing for him to go under. She responded
> with, "not a problem. We can put you in the aisle." I then said that he
> would be in danger of getting run over by the drink carts or stepped on
> by other pasengers, and that this still wouldn't solve the fact that he
> would be in the leg room of the person next to me. At this point, a man
> sitting a few feet away said he didn't mind sitting there, which made me
> realize that we were having this discussion in earshot of everyone,
> something I thought was extremely unprofessional on her part. Anyway,
> after that man said that, she said that they would also let me know when
> the cart was coming, and that Mason would be in no danger. I told her
> that this was still unsafe, and that I couldn't ride there, to which she
> responded, "You have too or you won't go on this flight." At this point
> I was at a loss. Since she was being unreasonable and didn't even want
> to listen to what I had to say, reasoning with her was out. I also knew
> that I couldn't talk with her supervisor since I heard them talking at
> the counter, and knew they were on the same side. I'd thought about
> leaving and trying to rebook my flight since I had no obligations at
> home, but had no way to get the hour long distanse from the airport to
> my aunt's since she was at work at that point and couldn't leave. So, I
> had decided that I would wait untill we were boarding and talk with the
> flight attendent. I figured they would see that Mason wouldn't fit, and
> we could easily straighten this out. However, I guess karma decided to
> step in first. It turns out that the plane we were supposed to ride on
> had maintinanse issues, and the flight was canseled. There were some
> vacant seats on a flight leaving an hour and a half later, and one of
> those seats was given to me. Luckily, that gate agent was more than
> accomidating and the original agent saw the whole transaction. So, I
> guess that showed her what she could do with her "policies." lol Anyway,
> Mason and I made it home safely, and I'm definitely considering writting
> to Delta about this one. I don't mind educating people about rules and
> regulations, but I won't have people completely brush me off and treat
> me or my dog like second class citizens.
> Sam and Seeing Eye Dog Mason
>
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Nimer M. Jaber

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