[nagdu] Disabled veteran kicked off US Airways plane, refused to put service dog on floor

[Shanna Stichler]

The airline was absolutely within their wrights to handle this situation 
the way they did. They never denied this gentleman access to the plane 
or questioned the legitimacy of his service dog. They simply expected 
him to obey very clearly stated regulations and to use common courtesy. 
Also, they went out of their way to accommodate this man, rebooking the 
flight, paying for a hotel room, etc. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have 
happened to a passenger without a disability who caused a disturbance 
and needed to be removed from an aircraft.

Shanna and Diamond
On 9/6/2013 7:19 PM, Aleeha Dudley wrote:
> I'm going to state my honest opinion here and say the airline was in
> the right here. I agree that the dog should have been on the floor of
> the aircraft. It doesn't seem right that this passenger is using his
> disability and service to this country as an excuse for having the dog
> on a seat rather than the floor. In fact, he isn't being denied entry
> to the plane, but the airline is merely asking him to obey the
> guidelines issued by the same act this gentleman claims, and quite
> accurately so, gives him the right to have the dog. Just the fact that
> he speaks untruths so loudly landed him a spot in the media, which is
> quite disturbing.
> Aleeha and Dallas
>
> On 9/6/13, Ginger Kutsch <GingerKutsch at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Disabled veteran kicked off US Airways plane, refused to put service dog on
>> floor
>>
>> Sep 05, 2013 8:46 PM EDT
>>
>> By FOX 10 News - Staff Report
>>
>> http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/23348254/2013/09/05/disabled-war-veteran-k
>> icked-off-us-airways-plane
>>
>>
>>
>> A newly released video has put valley-based US Airways in a tough position.
>> A Vietnam vet with a service dog got into a heated discussion with a flight
>> attendant and then was escorted off the plane for security reasons.
>>
>>
>>
>> Video: "No! I'd appreciate if you'd get the hell off this ground and get
>> where we're going!"
>>
>>
>>
>> Emotions ran high onboard a US Airways flight from Phoenix to El Paso. This
>> video has gone viral.
>>
>>
>>
>> "I'm sorry folks but I've earned the right to have this service animal
>> because of my service to this country in Vietnam. I am 100 percent
>> disabled,
>> I have a service dog because of it and everyone has to obey the ADA laws
>> except this airline! So I'm sorry but I'm not budging!"
>>
>>
>>
>> This passenger wants his service dog, a golden retriever, to remain seated
>> on the empty seat next to him.
>>
>>
>>
>> A US Airways spokesman said the rules are pretty clear. Service animals are
>> to remain on the ground and under the seat in front of you.
>>
>>
>>
>> "If the aircraft were to experience something in the air and it needs to
>> evacuate you don't want that animal to be in the way of people getting off
>> the aircraft," says US Airways spokesman John McDonald.
>>
>>
>>
>> McDonald says there was also the safety of other passengers at risk here.
>> The man told airport personnel he suffered from PTSD. They worried he would
>> get even more upset in the air.
>>
>>
>>
>> "We had had conversations to the customer trying to explain what was going
>> on. And the captain was involved when the flight attendant wasn't able to
>> resolve it and in fact, many of our captains are former military people,
>> this is an issue we are very familiar with and unfortunately this
>> gentleman's reaction was what resulted in the incident."
>>
>>
>>
>> The Saturday flight was delayed. US Airways says it handled the situation
>> as
>> best it could.
>>
>>
>>
>> Airport police cited the man with trespassing and booked him on another
>> flight.
>>
>>
>>
>> There wasn't another flight out on Saturday, so the man was rebooked on
>> Sunday flight. US Airways covered the cost for a hotel room for the night.
>>
>>
>>
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