Bad luck or negligence? Airline damages passenger's wheelchair... twice!
Do airline staff handle luggage with care or disregard?
When planning to travel, it is always recommended to find out about special circumstances.
So, for John Morris, a passenger who travelled with American Airlines, it was disappointing to see the staff mishandle his electric wheelchair. The wheelchair costs roughly $75,000, which is around R1.2-million.
And if we open up the topic, we assume many people would come forth sharing their experiences with damaged luggage after a trip or two.
According to Morris, the electric wheelchair was dropped by an American Airlines staff member. But there is a huge difference between damaging a piece of luggage as opposed to an expensive wheelchair.
All this was after the wheelchair was previously damaged on a flight with the same airline.
"Its frame, which had already sustained damage on a previous American flight, was bent, the wheel was broken, and it was no longer turning on. Morris, an accessible travel consultant and founder of travel blog WheelchairTravel.org, accepted that the damage to his $40,000 (around R658,000) wheelchair was accidental. He was forced to delay his trip while he found a replacement chair." (Business Insider)
The airline did in fact supply Morris with two loan chairs, but both were not sufficient for his needs.
This resulted in Morris being forced to purchase another wheelchair, which cost him $35,000 (around R576,000). The only thing is he had to fly to the south of Florida to purchase the chair.
And sad to say but the drama continued. On his flight back, the airline yet again damaged his chair.
It is not plain and simple though, and perhaps the team at American Airlines are not aware of the inconvenience they have put on Mr Morris.
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"Morris said that it was "heartbreaking" when a wheelchair was damaged. "I understood immediately what the next few months were going to look like, that I was not going to have the device that grants me mobility and the opportunity to participate in society and go about everything in life that I do," he said." (Business Insider)
Sadly, a mere apology doesn't suffice in this case. It literally has affected his entire lifestyle. Morris has also shared that he is a frequent flier with the airline and a more sustainable solution needs to be adopted when it comes to catering for the disabled.
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