Should WestJet have accommodated these people?

[GordonH]

Better to be early than late.

Whenever I fly I do 2 things get to airport early & bring a book to read.

[Captain Awesome]

Whenever I fly I do 2 things get to airport early & bring a book to read.

Liar. You get there early and eat a cinnabon.

[Glenway]

Here's a recent story written by the editor of Nelson's newspaper, titled "The airline of arrogance", about being late for an Air Canada flight.
http://www.nelsonstar.com/opinion/174856541.html

He didn't get that much sympathy from his readers either:
http://www.nelsonstar.com/opinion/lette ... 66851.html

[grizz]

I am a family member of the people who missed this flight. Firstly the airport representative and WestJet were the ones who said they had checked luggage. We did not, he had a bag on his lap for bathroom needs, and a backpack on the back of his wheelchair that had a spare shirt/pants/medication/medical paperwork and his slide board to transfer to a seat or wheelchair. She had a purse. Klaudia should have confirmed this before making that statement. Again frequent flyers they are not, again a misquote. WestJet was aware for 3 weeks that he was bringing a power wheelchair. They were told he could transfer from his wheelchair in approx. 30 seconds. They discussed seating with us prior to this flight. They headed out early but he got spasms which needed medication to calm down so by the time they got to airport it was within half an hour. WestJet said the wheelchair is the last to go into the cargo area and the first to come out?? Also he could not get his itinerary on line because they said they had a seat already for him up front and she had to pay a $ 35.00 tax fee before she would get her itinery because she was his medical attendant. They could have clearly got on that plane, but since he could not run like a able body person, they would not allow it as it would take him to long. Did they ask him, no. They assumed, but all disabled people move at different rates. And the smirking WestJet lady and the one, whom looked at him like he was a freak with her comments, escaladed this whole thing. They spent more time arguing, then trying to help. This is not a WestJet bash either, some of the WestJet people we talked to were very informative and helpful, others were very rude.

[Tony]

They could have gone the night before or left at least 2 hours to get to the airport, especially if he has spasms that require medical attention. Knowing that information gives you the ability to say to yourself - "We need to leave lots of time to get there in case something (which in this case did) happens. Let's go down the night before".

Still is not Westjet's fault.

[GordonH]

WestJet checking times http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/travel/ ... imes.shtml

WestJet Assistive devices http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/travel/ ... ices.shtml

In the future I would suggest being at the checking 60 minutes (bring a book to read or have cinnabon) before your flight, like I said earlier better to be early than late.

[theyeti]

look the issue isnt how much time these ppl did or did not have . its a big company using there policy to screw over a poor handicapped man .

this is really sick how many ppl r blaming the victim

[baconbits]

There are policies in place for a reason.

Make an exception for ONE person, then more and more people will expect the same.

The FLYER is responsible to get to the airport with ample time.

Suck it up and move on.

[cv23]

They headed out early but he got spasms which needed medication to calm down so by the time they got to airport it was within half an hour.

That says it all. They knew to be there early but due to circumstances didn't make it there in the required time.
Westjet was more than fair in giving them a refund seeing it wasn't the airlines fault these passengers were late. AC would have laughed, kept their money and told them better luck next time.

[anniekate]

I feel for the family (I have had to take family members to long awaited specialists' appointments) but also feel that WestJet wasn't at fault. Even they didn't have normal luggage a wheelchair is still treated like a checked bag that has to go through a security check before placed in cargo. I have travelled with wheelchairs in the past and it is never an easy or quick process.

[French Castanut]

If you can get to the plane, have the plane come to you. There's a solution to every problem.

[LANDM]

It's unfortunate about the spasms before arriving, leading to a late arrival, but to wait and leave late would have had dozens of the other passengers possibly arriving late..............all with their hands out to get a refund. There is nothing wrong with the way WestJet dealt with it, other than the perception or reality of some employees being rude. Things like this are bound to hit the press in one way or another........or worse yet, on youTube. Especially when you have corporate dealings with a handicapped person. The optics are going to be bad no matter what, with some people. Just look at theyeti's comments. There is nothing that would reverse that. However, the other people on the plane expect to take off on time, have a reasonable expectation to arrive on time, and be safe. Just imagine if there was a problem with the wheelchair that caused a safety issue if it was not checked or stowed properly.
As Spock said, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

[SmokeOnTheWater]

Can you imagine all the excuses now. I left on time but had to use the facilities for ... you know ... I had a flat tire ... the kids were crying and fighting in the car and had to stop for a while. I mean the excuses are endless.
And now one can say " well, they got a refund what about me ? "
They are lucky they got a refund and next time they will know to leave even earlier.

[goatboy]

Maybe they left home early, and someting happened en route.

It's like if you go to the hospital.. you fall and hurt yourself.. there's a nurse beside you..

"Oh sorry can't do anything to help you. My shift is over... Can't help... My boss said no overtime allowed. You should have done it earlier. Too bad, too late. THe rules are the rules. No overtime he said."

Come on.. sometimes, the rules refers to a guideline, and are meant to be broken.

That's a ridiculous comparison.

It's an unfortunate situation, but the bottom line is, it doesn't really matter WHY they were late. Anyone who has been through an airport lately knows how long it would have taken him to pass through security if he is confined to a wheelchair. On top of the additional time to transfer him from his wheelchair to one that could get onto the plane, then transfer again to his seat while all the other passengers are already on board. Then having to remove the battery from his wheelchair and get his wheelchair into the cargo hold, I don't see this possibly all happening in 26 minutes. And remember, if one passenger misses a connecting flight because of any delay, it's now Westjets responsibility to fix that problem as well.

I'm sorry, it's unfortunate that his spasms caused them to be late, but I don't see how this becomes Westjet's problem.

[French Castanut]

That's a ridiculous comparison.

It's an unfortunate situation, but the bottom line is, it doesn't really matter WHY they were late. Anyone who has been through an airport lately knows how long it would have taken him to pass through security if he is confined to a wheelchair. On top of the additional time to transfer him from his wheelchair to one that could get onto the plane, then transfer again to his seat while all the other passengers are already on board. Then having to remove the battery from his wheelchair and get his wheelchair into the cargo hold, I don't see this possibly all happening in 26 minutes. And remember, if one passenger misses a connecting flight because of any delay, it's now Westjets responsibility to fix that problem as well.

I'm sorry, it's unfortunate that his spasms caused them to be late, but I don't see how this becomes Westjet's problem.

As ridiculous as this sounds.. the problem here isn't that the wheelchair person arrived late. Late here refers as the 30 minutes time frame prior to the plane leaving the airport.

The problem is that Westjet had the plane to leave ahead of schedule.

What works one way should work both ways. If a plane arrives late, they should get all the passengers of that plane a full refund. Simply because it wasn't on time, as supposed to.