July 7th, 2011
What was supposed to be a short flight from Wellington to Auckland turned into a bit a nightmare for one New Zealand family.
AOL Travel reported that two-year-old Theo Scott, who suffers form Down syndrome and a non-neurogenic bladder, and his family were not allowed to take his stroller on board a Jetstar A320-aircraft. They were told to check in the 18-pound (about 8kg) stroller, which folds up to the size of an umbrella at the boarding gate.
Theo's mother Trudi Scott said, "It's almost like you're having to justify your son's disability to them." She believed that the staff had no sympathy and treated them badly. When they boarded the plane, they saw a flight attendant put a large musical instrument bag on one of the plane's back seats. Adding to their ordeal, Theo's stroller was damaged during the flight. On the return flight the stroller was again put in the cargo hold, despite the plane only being half-full.
According to Jetstar, their policy is to not allow strollers on the A320 aircraft because of the number of people that try to board with them. Musical instruments can be strapped into extra seats if the passenger paid for the extra seat.
A spokesperson for Jetstar said the airline "sincerely apologised" to the Scott family. The airline promised to cover the cost to either repair or replace Theo's stroller. They also sent the family four $50 (about R362) vouchers.
User Comments
XYYddZvYMoUXgvSubmitted by Cassara on Sun, 07/17/2011 - 16:50. |
Gosh, I wish I would have had that infomraiton earlier! |
How ignorant can you be, Cherry???Submitted by Ignoramus on Fri, 07/08/2011 - 09:52. |
Cherry, What about me, I am well within the guidelines of Body Mass Index to be on target weight, but since I am 1.98m tall, I do take up more space. Just as you don't want to share your seat with me, I don't want to share mine (or the extra space I require) with you. People like you, narrowminded as you are, should rather walk to your destination, or take a canoo over the Atlantic. Rather attack the base of the problem, in that airline manufacturers are expecting us all to be 1.6m tall and weigh 40kg -more seats on the plane = more money to them, at the consumer's expense, both mine and yours. I fly business class whenever I can to make my life and that of other passengers' easier, that is unfortunately not always possible on domestic flights. At least I pay extra to be in business class and do not unnecessarily disturb your precious personal space, what do you do to 1)keep your baby from crying the whole time, or 2) not climb on board smelling all horrible from smoking or 3) put your hand in front of your mouth when you cough next to me or 4) eat your peanuts and drop them all around you. Just as examples, of course. We can all learn to be a lot more tolerant of others, and I think you should be in front of the row waiting for tolerance classes. |
disabled vs obeseSubmitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/08/2011 - 09:36. |
To all you mucking idiots who selected the third option in the above pole: The question was "Should DISABLED people be given special treatment". Obese people are NOT disabled people. Idiots!! |
Obese peopleSubmitted by Cherry on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 17:52. |
Airlines should start charging according to weight as they do with our luggage or parcels. why should I share my seat with someone else. |
The other sideSubmitted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 14:22. |
Just a question: Did they on arrival report the special need and did they wait for the last on, last off rule that applies to people with special needs? Or did they try to do it like everyone else and then got upset when the special need was not recognised? I have been traveling with a disabled person and have never had a problem, but we acknowledge the special need and then follow the instructions that goes with that. |
