[Ohio-talk] Airlines and assistance problems

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

After my recent flights I have some questions about airlines and
assistance.  I know that there is some debate over how one should be
independent in an airport.  Some say that you should not take any
assistance at all and should just stop passersby if you need
directions.  I personally feel like being independent to me means not
bothering other travelers who have their own agendas, and I also would
much rather get to my gate and anywhere else I might want to go
quickly and efficiently than waste time and have to scramble to find
my gate in time. I'm good about not abusing this; for example, in
Charleston I had a skycap show me where the restrooms were so I could
freshen up a bit, but I then retraced my steps and used my own
landmarks to get back to my gate without assistance.  I was able to
get lunch and freshen up in under 15 minutes, and I could have taken
much longer had I not known when it was more independent of me to ask
for help.  That's just how I view it.

Most of the time things went well.  United Airlines was great, and
although they brought me a wheelchair they were quick to leave it at
the end of the jetway once I said I didn't need it.  American airlines
was also pretty good about that, though their expectations of blind
people seemed a bit low.  The skycap I had freaked out a bit when I
took off down a moving walkway, I guess not thinking it was safe for a
blind person to do.  She then got me on a cart which went alongside
the moving walkways which I only noticed were still there once we were
moving, which seemed odd to me.  Perhaps she assumed I just wanted to
get to my gate more quickly, but she didn't ask me if I wanted to
continue using the moving walkways or take the cart either.  I also
had to assure her I could use the escalator because I didn't want to
wait for the elevator, but I could see how that might have also
contributed to the problem even though escalators and moving walkways
are relatively similar and you use a cane to handle both.  Security at
Charlotte had obviously not had much experience working with blind
people as well.  The lady working the scanner crossed her arms in an X
and tried to grab both of my hands, almost like she was creating a
support for me to lean on or something.  I had to assure her I could
walk through without assistance and knew the pose to take for the
metal detector to scan me already.  Everyone else there was great
about using sighted guide in crowded places or just letting me follow
on my own when I wanted to.  The weirdest thing by far, however, was
that when I landed in Cincinnati the US air people brought a skycap
with a wheelchair.  I tried to refuse it like usual, but thy weren't
budging like they usually do.  It had been so easy with Delta, United,
and American which I had all flown before.  I insisted that there was
nothing wrong with my legs and asked if the wheelchair could be left
at the end of the jetway like the others on my trip had been.  The
employee said he wasn't allowed to escort anyone unless they took the
wheelchair.  Faced with the options of arguing through my jetlag for
the service I had really requested and meeting my parents who were
waiting to take me home as soon as possible, I didn't argue further.
I did, however, tell the skycap as we were going that this was very
unnecessary and it wasn't what I had requested from the airline, and
it was pretty demeaning that I wasn't being given the assistance that
was requested or appropriate for me.  I don't believe that he was
trying to con me and really do think he was restricted in that way,
but it seems ridiculous that US air specifically employs people to do
that.  Had I not been jetlagged from 14 hours of travel by that point
I would have put up more of a hard stance on the subject, but I didn't
have the energy to argue further with him.  He did leave the chair in
baggage claim and let me walk to the pick up area outside, but that
was probably because he wasn't being watched as closely by other
employees there and he also had no way to push the chair and haul my
suitcase at the same time in the first place.

I was thinking of writing a letter to US Air or trying to make a phone
call to register that this arguing with a customer about needing to
take an unneeded wheelchair is not okay.  I was also thinking of
writing a letter to Charlotte's airport so the security personelle
could be told how to properly work with blind travelers in the TSA
line and in the concourse areas.  One thing I'd also like them to
change is that in Charlotte they were so focused on getting me to my
gate even though I had a 3 hour layover that I didn't get to do the
things like stop to buy lunch or freshen up on the way like I had
wanted to.  It was okay that I went back for those things, but every
other passenger has the opportunity to stop on their way to the gate
and I didn't have that.  I do understand that the skycaps have other
people to assist, but that doesn't mean I should be cut short or not
given the same opportunities as other travelers, from buying what I
want for lunch on my way to refusing a wheelchair and walking to
baggage claim on my own.

Thoughts?.

-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma