A man with cerebral palsy missed his own speaking engagement last month at a national self-advocacy conference after US Airways removed him from a flight calling him “too disabled to fly.”
Johnnie Tuitel was scheduled to fly Sept. 23 from Palm Beach, Fla. to attend the 2010 National Self-Advocacy Conference in Kansas City, Mo. put on by Self Advocates Becoming Empowered, or SABE. After a US Airways employee helped him board the plane, the employee returned to tell Tuitel, who uses a wheelchair, that for safety reasons he needed a companion in order to fly that day.
Tuitel, who lives in Grand Rapids Township, Mich., says he’s flown 500,000 miles, often related to his work as a motivational speaker, and has never had a problem flying by himself. In fact, two days later Tuitel flew alone on a Delta flight.
Representatives of US Airways said their employees acted within company policy which states: “For safety-related reasons, if a passenger has a mobility impairment so severe that the person is unable to physically assist in his or her own evacuation from the aircraft, US Airways requires that a person travel with a safety assistant.”
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/10/18/usairways/10739/