Handicapped woman demands better treatment from Delta

Published 7/30/08

So a big deal is being made about a woman with muscular dystrophy who apparently resorted to crawling through the terminal to make a connecting flight because of the way she was treated by Delta.

From the Consumerist:

Julianna, who has muscular dystrophy, missed the connecting flight because nobody came with a wheelchair until 8:05—the same time the connecting flight took off. To make matters worse, the plane crew told Julianna she might make the flight anyway if she stopped waiting for help and got off the plane right now, so she crawled down the stairs on her own. When the wheelchair came she was “wheeled into a back room and advised” that her plane had taken off.

There’s more to it — Delta people couldn’t be found to get her from one part of the terminal to the other and so forth.

The employees in this room were debating who would get me to the ticket gate to be re-ticketed because it was no one’s job and the appropriate personnel were not responding to their calls. After that was resolved I was given a new boarding pass for a flight expected to leave at 12:55 AM. Then this person advised me she cannot get me from a D Gate to Gate A9. She again called for the appropriate personnel who never showed.

Of course the comments are pretty harsh against Delta for treating her that way.

But why is this Delta’s fault?

First, the Consumerist headline: “Delta Makes Woman With Muscular Dystrophy Crawl Off Plane.” That’s sensational, but not true. They didn’t make her do anything. They were waiting for a wheelchair and gave her the option to crawl. She could have waited.

It’s not as if she suddenly contracted this condition on the plane. She knew she had muscular dystrophy, she knew she required a wheelchair, and yet she didn’t make any provisions for having someone take her to her connecting flight? And, if she knew that it takes time to go from Point A to Point B — whether by wheeling or crawling — why schedule connecting flights so close together? (And it’s not as if crawling is such a big deal, really.)

Further, she’s upset that the Delta people couldn’t help her right away. But she didn’t tell them in advance that she was coming, and it’s not like these folks don’t have jobs to do. Maybe they couldn’t just drop everything to push Julianna around in a wheelchair. Sure, I realize that she needs help, and it would be nice if someone could give it to her, but it’s being a big hard on the Delta folks to complain that they didn’t rush to her aid. Maybe they couldn’t.

Look, folks, if you need assistance you also need to plan ahead for it. Relying on there being nice people at your destination to help you doesn’t really demonstrate great planning. And then complaining that you aren’t being catered to? A bit unfair, doncha think?

The Fray

4 responses (add yours)

Admiral says:

I actually agree with you. No one should be catered to. She should have had a friend or relative help her. I do not know both sides of the story but, it would have been wise for her to plan ahead and had someone she could depend on to help her.

One of the most common causes for failure is counting on anyone to do anything. Its quite an assumption to think that someone will be there to help no matter the reason.

It would be wise in life to never assume a positive, but to always assume and plan for a negative.

July 30th, 2008 at 11:08 PM

Julie says:

I feel like I *should* be telling you that you’re a jerk for saying that a poor, handicapped woman had this coming to her due to lack of foresight but I think I agree with you.

If she has been dealing with this problem for some time, she should know better than to expect others to drop everything and do whatever she needs them to. What I find interesting is that handicapped people are always saying that they want to be treated normally but then when it actually happens it becomes a huge news item.

July 31st, 2008 at 7:40 AM

Chris says:

First, what makes you think she *didn’t* make provisions in advanced? If you have seen the original letter, which consumerist didn’t post the entire thing, she clearly states she made provisions in advanced. She’s no stranger to flying.

July 31st, 2008 at 7:51 AM

gnomic says:

And - to pile on here - with flight delays what they are, how do you know what time the flight was scheduled to arrive? She may have had over an hour or three between flight arrival and departure. I had 5 hours in between connecting flights once - and still wound up getting home a day and a half late after running all over the damn airport. I couldn’t have done even that if I was dependant on assistance.

Maybe if the plane was required to stay on the ground until a handicapped passanger was on the connecting flight, Delta might have made it a priority to get her on board. But probably not.

Most of the airlines are so badly mismanaged that they don’t care about any of thier customers (or employees).

This might be the woman’s fault or might not - its hard to tell from the lack of facts. But given the airline’s track record, I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

July 31st, 2008 at 8:12 AM