Hey Pandas, Can Airlines Justify Different Treatment For Passengers In Need? (Closed)

My wife and I went to New York to visit our daughter. On the last night there, she ended up breaking her leg and was stuck, needing surgery and rehab. She finished rehab and was flying home today. I booked her a first-class ticket, which cost me over $4,000. When it was boarding time, she was escorted onto the plane. It seems that they were trying to figure out how to get her to her seat, as she is not mobile. While waiting to get to her seat, they gave her seat away to someone else and escorted her off the plane. They then took her to Delta and put her in a business-class seat, which is nowhere near the same as first class. What has me extremely angry is that Delta had no problem getting her to her seat. Why should Hawaiian Airlines have a problem when Delta didn't?

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Yes. Not every aircraft in every airline is the same. When an airline buys an aircraft they usually have the interior configured to their own specifications regarding seat numbers and positions, provided that they comply with relevant laws. Also, not every airline uses the same aircraft. In some cases it simply may not be safe for passengers with certain disabilities to fly on certain aircraft with certain seating configurations. There are laws and regulations that dictate how quickly passengers must be able to evacuate the aircraft in an emergency and on some aircraft with a particular interior layout, it may not be possible for a passenger with a disability to evacuate the aircraft safely in that time. In which case it is right and proper for everyone's safety that the passenger be placed in an aircraft and seat position that allows them to be evacuated quickly and safely in an emergency.

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Final score:

4points

martin734

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Yes. If they weren't able to properly accommodate her, in the seating class you paid for, they will try to find the next best arrangement. You should be reimbursed the difference in seat cost. Have you contacted both airlines?

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Final score:

3points

StrangeOne

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Did you tell Hawaiian Airlines that your wife was disabled and needed extra help? Or did you just show up without telling them what was going on with her?
If you didn't, that is on you. Airlines need to know these things. They helped her get settled on a different plane even though it was a different company.

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Final score:

1point

Faramir10

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Sometimes lay-flat first/business class seats have a narrow entry from the aisle to the seat (especially for the seat nearest the window). So it's entirely possible that they couldn't figure out how to get your mobility impaired wife to her seat.

I've flown Hawaiian First Class and Delta Business Class, and prefer Delta Business Class -- unless he means that the Hawaiian flight had lay-flat seats, but Delta just had standard seats.

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Final score:

0points

Johnny

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