Airline passenger gets wheelchair back (partly)

Posted 23/08/2011

When the United Airlines passenger got his $20,000 power wheelchair back after a flight, it came out unexpectedly. It was “nothing more than a seat and a set of wheels,” he said.

“As often happens when power wheelchairs are stowed on board a plane, United employees had to disassemble the traveler's chair so it would fit in the plane's luggage compartment. But it appears that the airline didn't fully re-assemble the chair when the plane landed,” said KFOR television station.

The flight was from Washington, DC to Oklahoma City.

The passenger says he filed a complaint with United but didn't receive a response, at least until KFOR got involved and released the following statement:

“We sincerely regret the damage that occurred to our customer's wheelchair. We have apologized for the inconvenience and will reimburse the customer for the entire cost of the repairs needed to the assistive device.”

A manager at the medical supply store that repaired the traveler's chair tells KFOR that such incidents occur "quite frequently."

By David Wilkening

Originally published 23 Aug 2011 at: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/398/f/5923/s/1795cc16/l/0L0Stravelmole0N0Cstories0C11490A550Bphp0Dmpnlog0F1/story01.htm