[Ohio-talk] Airlines and assistance problems

Wed Jun 24 00:15:10 UTC 2015

Deborah,

You do make some great points I didn't consider before.  I do try to
be sociable with the people who guide me as well, and think that it
also helps to just make the airport experience less stressful and more
fun for me and the people doing their jobs.  The woman in Charlotte,
although she freaked out when I got onto a moving walkway (I thought
she was going to get onto it but she didn't), was very friendly and
asked good questions like where did I come from, what the study abroad
program I was doing was like, etc.  I learned that she worked for
American Airlines for quite a while and was from the area, and we
chatted about the recent news from the city as unfortunate as that is.
She was shocked that I had heard about it in Jamaica, which lightened
the conversation a bit.

I do like Delta a lot, too, and was probably spoiled the first time I
flew to an NFB convention.  I had a direct flight to Orlando and the
Delta staff was wonderful the whole way.  And so far they are the only
airline to not even bother bringing a wheelchair, which really
impressed me.  United was pretty great so far and I'm looking forward
to flying again with them to and from convention.  American was okay
too, which is why it seems so odd that US Air wasn't up to snuff with
how they handled things.

The skycaps in Cincinnati have generally been good in my departure
experiences.  They've consistently paid attention when I say I want to
stop and get a bottle of water or some breakfast, and they even had a
spare cane for me to use in the TSA line once that wouldn't set off
the alarms.  This time I gave it to the attendant who had it waiting
for me on the other side of the scanner, which was also nice.
Cincinnati has also been pretty good when I've come back in.  Delta's
employees were fabulous 2 years ago, and aside from this issue which I
doubt was the poor guy's fault he was good too.  Charlotte was a
little weird for the TSA thing and not listening to my request to look
for somewhere to buy lunch which I made after we got through baggage
claim, but that was relatively a small issue since I did have such a
long layover.  As Aleeha predicted based on the fact that Seeing Eye
students use it all the time, Newark was awesome.  I thought I even
heard a guide dog team as I was going from gate to gate, though it
could have also been a pet.  Nevertheless, I definitely heard clicking
paws on the floor and a collar jangling, which was kind of cool.
Montego Bay treated me surprisingly well for not having much exposure
to independent blind people as well.  I have a 54 minute layover in
O'Hair for my way down to Orlando in 2 weeks, so hopefully I'll be
able to be one of the few and proud who can say good things about that
airport, Deborah.

On 6/23/15, Deborah Kendrick via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Kaiti,
> Weighing in again on the wheelchair piece of this.
> I have been left alone in the middle of a strange airport at midnight by a
> guy who wouldn't help me if I didn't sit in the chair.
> I have been made to wait so long that I missed a flight for the same
> reason.
>
> I also have, many times, said to a person greeting me with the chair "Oh, I
> just need someone to walk with me," and then received an apology from the
> assist person as they park the chair to the side and cheerfully guide me.
> My point is, that whether we like it or not, (and I mostly don't like it),
> the turnover is too great for there to be any consistent training.
> If we speak for ourselves and, when possible, do it with positive
> attitudes,
> we can at least come away knowing we maybe made life easier for another
> blind person who will walk this way.
> As I said earlier, this is my primary philosophy.  However, since we are
> all
> human, I have been known to lose it completely when some one has clung to
> one idiotic notion -- disability means wheelchair or whatever.  But I
> usually don't feel good when that happens.
> I think your handling of it was the best you could do at the moment.
> And it sounds like you made the person understand that the wheelchair was
> silly, so it wasn't a total loss.
> Best,
> Deborah
>
> -----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 6:35 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Airlines and assistance problems
>
> 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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-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma