Yesterday while flying United Airlines Flight 882 from Portland, OR to Chicago, I was given an inaccessible seat. It was the middle seat in a three seat row, where, under the seats in front of me I discovered a set of metal stanchions, which, in turn made it impossible for me to get my guide dog safely underneath the seat–hence, out of the foot space shared with other passengers. Then, the airline stuck two people on either side of me.They asked me to get up so a non-English speaking passenger could get all the way in to the window seat. I complained and said they should reseat me where I could actually sit. They in turn looked at me as if I might be some kind of half human cockroach. The airplane was a Boeing 757 which has bulkhead seats in an exit row. People with disabilities are barred from sitting in an exit row. First class was full. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, my right to fly safely and in comfort is not up for grabs. But what really bothers me, even a day later was the easy dismissal of my situation by the United flight attendants. I learned from a fellow passenger that the crew even managed to gossip about me–was I some kind of cranky man? United, your record in this area has not been good for a long time. You embarrassed yourselves yesterday. But you had a full flight, didn’t you?
Planet of the Blind 
This blog brought back bad memories of flying with my father when he became disabled. At first I would calmly and logically argue ADA, the airline’s own rules, basic human values. Then I would experience a primitive rage that made me want to claw or bite the person who was standing in the way of my father’s right to travel to see his grandchildren. As the mother of a son who experienced a traumatic brain injury at age 15, and the daughter of a father who had an unexpected stroke at 63, I am acutely aware that anyone can become disabled in the blink of an eye. Those who write you off as a “half human cockroach” may wake up tomorrow waving their many legs in the air a la Kafka. Is it evil of me to hope that someone then hassles THEM when they try to board a plane? Of course, even if they then repent their past misdeeds, it won’t undo the indignities that you, my father, and countless others have suffered. Keep fighting the good fight, Stephen, and keep this issue in the public eye!
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United stinks for everyone, disabled or not.
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I’ve had terrible experiences flying with my disabled child, even when she was under ten years old! I hate them all — which sounds like an immature thing to say, admittedly, but I’ve nothing to lose. I hate them all.
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The airlines have a deeply engrained corporate bias against people with a disability. When I, as a paralyzed man, show up at the gate agents look at me as though I have the plague. I represent extra work–work they resent doing. The irony to me is that airline employees do not do the work to get me on and off a plane. That work has been sub contracted out to the lowest bidder. Thus I am dependent upon “trained personal” who are poorly paid and have no idea what they are doing. Many cannot speak English. This is not their failure but the airlines and sub contractor who deem passengers with a disability an unnecessary burden and drain on profits. Like your rude gossiping crew I have had air crews be point blank rude to me. Indeed it is the norm. One last point: when possible I try to fly on Airbus planes rather than Boeing. I have found the Airbus planes have more room.
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