Tue, Nov 02, 2010
Passengers Waited Nearly Three Hours While An Unbroken One Was
Found
Passengers aboard a recent Delta Airlines flight set to depart
from New York's JFK Airport were told that their flight was being
delayed because the airplane's wheelchair, which is required
on every flight, had a broken handle, and the plane could not take
off while that piece of equipment was damaged.
The blog "Freakonomics" from the New York
Times reports that passengers waiting on the plane at the gate
were kept up to date on the search for an unbroken wheelchair, but
it apparently took two and a half hours for one to be located and
placed on the plane. The blogger said that, when asked, a flight
attendant (rather tersely, in his words) told a passenger that the
wheelchair was an ADA requirement, and that it had to be on board
even though there was no one on the plane who appeared to need a
wheelchair.
Some passengers reportedly did get off the plane rather than
wait until a new chair was found.
Editors Note: I had a similar experience some years
ago, when a flight I was on (and I honestly don't remember the
airline at this point) was delayed at the gate for over an hour
because the first aid kit had been opened and something had been
used on the previous flight. We were told that, without a complete
first aid kit on board, the flight could not push back from the
gate. While I understand that concept, after all, I'd hate to be
the person who needed what ever the kit was missing, it was curious
that it took more than an hour for the airline to come up with a
new one.
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