[nfbmi-talk] U.S. Airways side of Guide Dog and Blind Passenger Incident

Terry D. Eagle terrydeagle at yahoo.com
Tue Nov 19 16:40:16 UTC 2013


Letter from U. S. Airways.

 

 

Folks - I know there is a lot of heat around the issue of the passenger and
his service animal that was removed from one of our express flights
recently. One of the first things everyone should ask themselves is, "There
certainly must be more to this story than meets the eye . an airline
wouldn't just boot them off a flight for no good reason, right?" Absolutely.

 

US Airways transports more than 80 million customers each year and ensures
that all customers, including those with disabilities, are treated with
dignity and respect. We're particularly sensitive to those customers who
travel with service animals and we partner with Assistance Dogs
International (ADI), an organization that trains and places assistance dogs
around the world. US Airways employees volunteer to travel with and work
with assistance dogs in training to help them prepare for travel with
disabled partners. Over the past 10 years, US Airways employees have
participated in transports everywhere from California to Croatia. So we
understand the special needs and laws surrounding transporting our disabled
customers and their service animals. So we have been investigating what
happened here, and that investigation continues.

 

Here are a few things folks should consider:

 

. The safety of every passenger on our aircraft is our first and foremost
priority.

. To ensure the safety of all passengers, the carriers and FAA have approved
cabin policies the ensure that, should an incident occur, everyone can be
safely evacuated without aisle-way obstruction.

. In compliance with the Air Carriers Access Act, and the FAA, service
animals must be either under the seat in front of a passenger, on their lap
(if equal to or smaller than a lap child), or at their feet . but at no time
can they be in the main aisle of the aircraft as that is a primary
evacuation route. In this instance, the animal was not able to be secured
out of the main aisle, and attempts to work with the customer failed to
ensure compliance with this safety rule.

. The customer is an advocate for disability rights, and appears to have
forced a confrontation with his disruptive behavior, rather than simply
complying with the instruction and securing the dog. Everyone was tired, it
was near midnight, and I'm sure patience was in short supply as the aircraft
had already been delayed on departure due to a mechanical issue and the
animal was restless. We all would be.

. Once that was communicated by the cabin crew to the flight deck crew, the
decision was made to return to the gate to remove the customer and calm the
situation.

. Several other passengers, upon seeing the customer's removal from the
flight, piled on to the emotional confrontation, making threats to contact
media and make an issue of out 'kicking a blind man and his dog off a US
Airways flight.' This reduced the FA to tears, and they were unable to
continue as they believed their safety was in jeopardy. The captain made the
decision to cancel the flight and alternate means of transport were secured
to get the passengers to their destination. Again, everyone was tired, it
was late, and I'm sure folks simply wanted to get home. As a result, our
customers did not get to their destination until after 2 in the morning.

 

So, having said all that, we apologize to the customers of the flight for
the inconvenience caused by this incident and will be reaching out to them.

I am sure everyone involved wish it had never happened and they had simply
gotten to their destination on time.

 

We are also supportive of crews as they do a very difficult job, and in very
sensitive emotional circumstances, to guard the safety of all our customers,
on every flight, every day. If a crew member ask you to do something, there
is a lawful and reasonable reason to comply with the request. That is simple
and easy to do. Feel free to ask questions and get clarification, but
forcing confrontations or making threats jeopardizes the safety of everyone
on board. You can bet that will create a delay and potentially removal from
the aircraft. No one wins there.

 

As I said, we continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the
incident, and we welcome any additional information that will enable us to
better accommodate our disabled passengers and their service animals. We
want to improve our service, and avoiding these kinds of confrontations
through education and sensitivity are always the better path.

 

Thanks for taking two minutes to read a bit more about what we believe
occurred on this flight. After all, there certainly is more to the story .

right? Absolutely.

 

-- John McDonald - Spokesman, US Airways

 




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