[nfbwatlk] P.S. Re: Airline case, UK

Thu Dec 16 09:54:03 UTC 2010

P.S.  It looks like some of the offending policies may still be in place.

You can browse at

http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/

under heading:

Special Assistance

Can I bring a Guide/Assistance dog on a Ryanair flight?
Do I need to advise Ryanair prior to travel if I have reduced
mobility, blind/visual impairment or require special assistance in the
airport?
Do I need to pre-advise Ryanair if I am Blind or Vision Impaired
and travelling ALONE?
Do I need to pre-advise Ryanair if I am Blind or Vision Impaired
and travelling WITH a Sighted adult-over 16?

etc.

On Thu, 16 Dec 2010, Frederick Driver wrote:

> Hi Ben,
>
> I found that article at independent.co.uk.
>
> Old news, but interesting.
>
> I didn't notice any update to that particular case there.
>
> But there's another case from 2008, evidently another discrimination case,
> involving a group being ejected from one of their aircraft.  One member of
> the group was blind.
>
> So perhaps it counts as an update of sorts.
>
> Rick
>
> P.S.  It's no wonder the airline said it expects its annual profits to
> drop by half.  If they keep kicking customers off their flights.  I wonder
> if they've ever ejected a group in mid-air.
>
>
> [article]
>
> Steel band 'terrorists' win Ryanair case
>
> By Cahal Milmo
>
> The Independent
>
> Wednesday, 6 February 2008
>
> Ryanair has been ordered to pay nearly 5,000 to five black musicians,
>    including a blind man, who were asked to leave a flight at gunpoint
>    after another traveller wrongly expressed concern that they were
>    terrorists.
>
> The budget airline was criticised by a judge for its treatment of the
>    members of Caribbean Steel International, a London-based steel band,
>    after they were escorted off a Ryanair service from Sardinia to
>    Stansted airport by armed police on New Year's Eve in 2006.
>
>    District Judge Roger Southcombe said the airline also made claims that
>    were "false and misleading" in a statement it made to the media about
>    the incident.
>
>    The ruling capped a bad day in the law courts for the Dublin-based
>    company, which warned this week that it expects its annual profits to
>    be halved. A court in Paris awarded damages of 45,000 to the French
>    President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife, Carla Bruni, after the
>    airline used a picture of the couple in an advertisement without their
>    permission.
>
>    Judge Southcombe ruled that the members of Caribbean Steel
>    International were entitled to damages because of the "completely
>    wrong" claims of the passenger and Ryanair's response to them.
>
> The men arrived home two days' late after they were put on a flight to
>    Liverpool and spent the night at the city's coach station because they
>    missed a connecting bus to their homes in London. Jason Constantine, a
>    member of the band, who have performed worldwide, said: "We were
>    treated disgracefully and it is very important to us that the court
>    has recognised that Ryanair's behaviour was wrong. There was ample
>    time for the pilot to allow us to get back on the aircraft and return
>    home as we had planned."
>
>    The musicians, who had performed to critical acclaim at a festival on
>    the Italian island, allegedly aroused the suspicion of another
>    passenger on the aircraft after he noticed they were not sitting
>    together. He claimed that Michael Toussaint, the blind band member,
>    was able to read newspapers. It transpired that the men were not
>    sitting together because several of them wanted window seats and had
>    purchased priority boarding passes.
>
>    After the concerned passenger, who said he was a university psychology
>    lecturer, approached the pilot, Captain Sam Dunlop, with his concerns
>    and threatened to take his family off the flight, the pilot asked for
> the musicians to be removed so their identities could be checked.
>
>    A flight attendant had also expressed concern about the men. The
>    Mayor's and City of London Court heard that the band were "scared and
>    embarrassed" when police took them off the plane at Sardinia's Alghero
>    airport, not least because they were the only black people on the
>    flight. When they requested to be allowed to return to the aircraft,
>    the court was told, the request was turned down by Capt Dunlop, who
>    said there had been "tension" on the plane because of the incident.
>
>    Ryanair said it would appeal against the ruling and insisted it had
>    taken the "safety first option" in asking for the men to be removed
>    from the flight.
>
> SOURCE:
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/steel-band-terrorists-win-ryanair-case-778665.html
>
>
> On Wed, 15 Dec 2010, Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR) wrote:
>
> > Wonder if there's an update to this story which looks like was written in 2005.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lauren Merryfield
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:10 PM
> > To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> > Subject: [nfbwatlk] {Disarmed} Fw: [Blind_Democrats] Airlines Discriminates Against Blind People:
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Carol
> > To: blind_Democrats at yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 4:45 PM
> > Subject: [Blind_Democrats] Airlines Discriminates Against Blind People:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 11:32 AM
> > Subject: Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers
> > Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers
> > By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
> > The Independent, Thursday, 13 October 2005
> > Ryanair, the no-frills airline, is under fire from disability
> > campaigners for ejecting nine blind and partially sighted passengers from a
> > plane just minutes before take-off.
> > The passengers, who were travelling to Italy for a walking holiday, had
> > completed check-in procedures and were sitting on the plane at Stansted when
> > the pilot announced they would have to vacate their seats. They were then
> > "marched" off and escorted back to the airport lounge.
> > Some waited six hours for another flight while others were forced to sleep
> > on the airport floor overnight. One of the party was so distressed by the
> > incident - to be featured on BBC's Watchdog
> > programme next week - she abandoned her holiday.
> > "It was dreadful. You felt like a criminal. We were all devastated," one of
> > the blind passengers, Beryl Barton, from Norwich, said. "Five minutes before
> > take-off the pilot asked: 'Are many of you blind?' and we said: 'Yes, one or
> > two' and he said: 'We have already got disabled people on the flight and you
> > will have to get off'. They marched us through to the lounge and this lady
> > came and she said: 'Of course, you got off of your own accord' and we
> > shouted: 'No, we haven't."
> > There was no safety justification, she insisted: "We can all walk.
> > We've all got a partially-sighted or sighted guide. We could get off as
> > quickly as anyone else."
> > Ryanair explained it could not take the customers because it already had
> > three "disabled" people on board (unconnected to the party) and it
> > stipulates no more than four "disabled" people on each flight.
> > However, the organiser of the trip, Katherine Hurst said she rang Ryanair
> > eight months before she travelled to check there would be no problems. She
> > said: "The pilot said: 'How would you manage if the cabin was full of smoke'
> > but it wouldn't make any difference. They are used to not seeing."
> > Ryanair, whose chief executive is Michael O'Leary, has a controversial
> > record on disabled people. Last year, it lost a case brought by a disabled
> > man who was charged 18 for the use of a whreelchair.
> > Afterwards it said that it would have to raise ticket prices as a result.
> > The Royal National Institute for the Blind has received eight complaints
> > about Ryanair, an unusually high number about one company.
> > In one case, it is considering legal action. Jane Vernon, its legal officer,
> > said: "I think Ryanair's whole attitude towards disabled people is
> > disgraceful. Saying on their website they are charging an extra 50p per
> > ticket to pay for wheelchairs for disabled people is despicable."
> > Ryanair insisted its policy on disabled passengers was "clearly highlighted"
> > on its website and did not know of the RNIB's cases. It said it had
> > "repeatedly apologised" to the passengers removed from the plane.
> > In-flight turbulence
> > Bob Ross took on Ryanair over being charged 18 for the use of a wheelchair
> > at Stansted in March 2002. When Mr Ross, a cerebral palsy sufferer, won the
> > case , Ryanair was quick to appeal, saying a 50p surcharge on all tickets
> > would be levied to cover the cost of providing wheelchairs. They lost the
> > appeal.
> > In March this year, Ryanair was fined 24,000 for misleading customers about
> > the price of flights from Stansted.
> > This year, the airline, which charges employees for uniforms, announced that
> > mobile phones must not be charged at work.
> > An advert launched just after the London bombings featured Winston Churchill
> > saying: "We shall fly them to the beaches ... we shall fly them to London"
> > It drew 319 complaints, but was deemed "suitably respectful" by the
> > Advertising Standards Authority.
> > From:
> > http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ryanair-is-attacked-f
> > or-ejecting-blind-passengers-510715.html
> >
> >
> >
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