[nagdu] airline issues

[Jenine Stanley]

I think one of the most frustrating parts of the accessibility issues
surrounding airlines is the extremely varied and generally often poor
training and monitoring of staff. 

If I had a dime for every flight attendant who still tells me it's a federal
law that I must sit in the bulkhead seat, I'd not have to work for a living.
It never has been a federal law, ever. 

The strange ways the ACAA is interpreted during such trainings also baffle
me. Someone got the idea that having 2 people with assistance dogs sitting
in the same row was dangerous for the one next to the window and anyone in
the middle seat because they'd have to scramble over the dog under the aisle
seat to get out. One would assume the person and dog in said aisle seat
would have moved, but the flight attendant all but called me a smart ass for
asking her that question when she challenged my husband and I about sitting
together. We didn't absolutely have to sit together, but why not? That's
where our tickets were. The middle seat was empty. 

The mildly amusing part of that story was that my husband was a pilot before
his sight loss. He smiled and said that he'd probably know if there was
something really wrong with the plane before she did and he didn't care who
was in his way, me, her or anyone else. He was getting out. She said maybe
he should sit on the aisle then. Meanwhile I was on the phone to the FAA
hotline, and actually got a live person. 

Never got an apology from the flight attendant though. She apologized to my
husband but not me. <sigh> 

Somehow, I'm not sure how, we need to get ourselves, those of us with proven
knowledge that is, into these trainings. 
Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com