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A Blind Woman Was Reportedly Kicked off an American Airlines Flight Over Her Guide Dog
A blind woman says she was kicked off an American Airlines flight over a disagreement regarding her guide dog. In an interview with the Portland Press Herald, 61-year-old Sue Martin said she, her husband, and her guide dog had stopped over at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. during a flight from Bangor, Maine to California on March 1. (fortune.com) 更多...
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There's been a rash of those incidents lately, mostly on AA partners.
And quite often its very slanted against the airline no matter which one. Usually there is more to the story than just what was printed. You don't think that the person who got kicked off as she put it from the flight told all exactly like it happened do you?
Something similar almost happened to myself and my wife, and thank goodness the FA for the airline stood up and told the woman complaining about it where to go.
We were on a flight from SMF-DEN-OMA, and while we put in the notes for our ticket that my wife is blind and will be bringing our guide dog with us, the FAs on the SMF-DEN leg were aware, but the connecting flight from DEN-OMA was not. One lady had to give up her seat, and was absolutely livid about it, saying that we were causing the disturbance and needed to be kicked off the flight, or have our dog (a yellow lab) down in the luggage compartment, or have the dog take the next flight (the following morning). The FA told her where to take those suggestions, and that the dog had every right to be in the cabin with us, as it is a service animal.
Most people with disabilities with animals who have been properly trained are asked to be familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and more importantly, the Air Carrier Access Act. That defines what service animals are allowed to do, especially on a flight, and the airlines must accommodate. Seeing that FAs aren't getting as much training on this as they used to (or should), I'd be more inclined to side with the passenger.
Right now, only Alaska Airlines has actually teamed up with an entity breeding and training guide dogs to get the in-depth training on how to handle them; other airlines should take note, or they'll be the next to get a hiding by the press and have to play damage control.
We were on a flight from SMF-DEN-OMA, and while we put in the notes for our ticket that my wife is blind and will be bringing our guide dog with us, the FAs on the SMF-DEN leg were aware, but the connecting flight from DEN-OMA was not. One lady had to give up her seat, and was absolutely livid about it, saying that we were causing the disturbance and needed to be kicked off the flight, or have our dog (a yellow lab) down in the luggage compartment, or have the dog take the next flight (the following morning). The FA told her where to take those suggestions, and that the dog had every right to be in the cabin with us, as it is a service animal.
Most people with disabilities with animals who have been properly trained are asked to be familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and more importantly, the Air Carrier Access Act. That defines what service animals are allowed to do, especially on a flight, and the airlines must accommodate. Seeing that FAs aren't getting as much training on this as they used to (or should), I'd be more inclined to side with the passenger.
Right now, only Alaska Airlines has actually teamed up with an entity breeding and training guide dogs to get the in-depth training on how to handle them; other airlines should take note, or they'll be the next to get a hiding by the press and have to play damage control.
And all the more reason to fly nonstop.
Wish we could; there is no nonstop from SMF-OMA.
