EasyJet issues apology after flight takes off without three stranded wheelchair passengers

3 comments

1. Travelling with a wheelchair is a fucking pain the arse, and trying to work out which attractions have reasonable access routes… planning planning planning

2. On a flight with emirates my mother and I were left in the middle of the airport at a stopover on an indirect flight and was told someone would come back for us. Luckily it just my mother who was wheelchair bound so when I realised we only had an hour before our flight and it was at Dubai airport which was huge I managed to push my mum and the hand luggage to the gate. We were almost late for our connection as you have to go through extra security if you’re in a chair and when we arrived at our final destination our cases weren’t even on the plane so I don’t know if they ever planned for us to make it.

3. Ugh. This doesn’t surprise me.

   Travelling with a wheelchair is always a nightmare because of staff who are too busy to really help, or just don’t understand your needs.

   Several times I have had staff trying to persuade me to let them take my chair to put in the hold and put me in a wheelchair that I cannot self-propel, without even being near the plane or transferred to an aisle chair.

   I’ve been left waiting for support for ages and worried about catching my flight on time. Then someone shows up, realises I cannot walk up the steps to the plane and has to get someone else (with another long wait).

   Getting off the plane is worst though. Takes forever. Regardless of whether landing in the UK or abroad. I wish that the whole process could be more streamlined somehow.

   Edit: Didn’t even mention the anxiety that my wheelchair might get damaged in transit. Any replacement options are basically unusable heavy hospital wheelchairs. Imagine landing at your holiday destination to find that you can’t move independently.