[Ohio-talk] Airlines and assistance problems

Tue Jun 23 22:35:01 UTC 2015

Richard, I hope this will be my first and last time taking that. Of course it would have to happen at the end of my trip, not before I spent 14 hours getting from point a to point B. I really would have stood my ground a bit better had I not been so jetlagged. I think it is important that they know this isn't right, not because I have to prove myself, but because they need to know to work with people with disabilities in ways that are appropriate for the individual's disability. That means sending a guide if it is requested, a wheelchair if it is requested, and not mixing the two to the point where the person can't correct the issue to get the help they asked for. And if someone doesn't need a wheelchair an employee who can only do wheelchair escorts shouldn't be put on that particular job. My mom tried to excuse this by saying, "it's just easier for them." Last time I checked I was the person asking paid people for assistance, not the other way around. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 23, 2015, at 6:00 PM, richard via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I will not write a  long letter but it is important to  understand that you
> need not to prove to anyone how independent you are.
> I can remember one of our famous presidents faced with the questions about
> his independence. You should research what he said to the students,
> I have never rode in the chair and think that because of my great attitude
> they leave the chair are I will leave them.
> We have to do what we can to educate but at the same time get what we need.
> Positive Payne
> Richard
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
> Shelton via Ohio-talk
> Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 12:01 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] Airlines and assistance problems
> 
> 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
> 
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