A passenger with a disability aboard a Virgin Australia flight has been forced to stand for three hours next to the toilet on an overnight journey from Perth to Brisbane.
The man who describes himself as a loyal Virgin Australia passenger and a frequent flier says he was stunned by the treatment.
Sam Cawthorn is used to adversity.
When he was involved in a major car accident in 2006, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was resuscitated but was left with an amputated right arm and a permanent disability in his right leg.
His fused leg means that he simply cannot fit into any old seat on an aircraft.
The former Young Australian of the Year for Tasmania is also tall – at 190 centimetres he usually upgrades to business class when he travels but on this particular flight last Friday it was too late.
He told News Limited that when he boarded the flight and sat down, he realised that the seat wouldn’t work.
So he asked to be moved.
His new seat was located amidst a row of three empty seats but his leg, which doesn’t bend, was left stuck out into the aisle. He was repeatedly hit by the attendant’s trolley.
News Limited reports that he asked for another solution.
But despite seeing numerous suitable options, both in economy and business class, Mr Cawthorn claims the cabin supervisor refused to accommodate him due to “airline policy”.
He even offered to pay for an upgrade but was denied. So Mr Cawthorn had no choice but to stand for three hours near the lavatory, which made his leg and back very sore.
He told the newspaper, “Having spoken in 12 countries regarding resilience, I’m shocked as to why one of Australia’s best airlines would possibly put any of their passengers in a position where there was no choice but to stand for the duration of time between take off and landing. There were many other suitable seats to which the cabin supervisor did not permit a seat change.”
But it seems like we hear stories like this all too often.
In 2009, Paralympian Kurt Fearnley was forced to crawl through an airport terminal after Jetstar staff refused to allow him to use his own wheelchair.
Fearnley, who famously crawled the Kokoka Track, was told by boarding crew that his wheelchair was not suitable and he needed to switch to a less-mobile wheelchair.
“I said there is not a chance that I am going to sit there and be pushed through an airport,” he told The Daily Telegraph at the time.
“An able-bodied equivalent, a normal person’s equivalent would be having your legs tied together, your pants pulled down and be carried or pushed through an airport.”
“I made a choice and that was to make my own way to the gate,” Fearnley said. “I jumped on to my brother’s shoulder then I crawled.”
Jetstar apologized and have since reviewed their wheelchair policies.
Just last year, a 21-year-old woman with cerebral palsy was pulled from a Jetstar flight because the cabin crew believed she could not understand instructions.
Ashley Papworth uses a wheelchair and hearing aid and was pulled from the flight after cabin crew said she didn’t understand them.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes told The Daily Telegraph that he was not surprised by the incident.
Mr Innes said people with disabilities were regularly discriminated against by airlines but he said the problem was particularly bad with low-cost and budget carriers.
For Sam Cawthorn, the incident is all too fresh.
He says he isn’t bitter but he just wants to make sure it never happens to anyone else.
Virgin have since put out this statement:
“Virgin Australia sincerely apologises for any discomfort experienced by Mr Cawthorn on his recent flight. We take the comfort and safety of all guests very seriously and we ask guests that require special assistance to provide the information when booking to enable us to accommodate these requests. Unfortunately, this information was not provided in advance and therefore, while our crew endeavoured to assist Mr Cawthorn within safety policies and procedures, we were unable to meet his requests on this occasion. All guest feedback is important to us and we are committed to providing a safe and enjoyable travel experience.”
Top Comments
Hang on - Kurt Fearnley was offered a wheelchair and refused it just because it wasn't "his" wheelchair???
I've been felt up, scanned, patted down, had a week's worth of knickers pulled out of my bag and flashed at the whole airport - security isn't precious! Yet it is something I CHOOSE to go through because I choose to fly. If you don't like the airline's security policies - designed to keep YOU safe - you are welcome not to fly. Nobody forced him to crawl and that's really despicable to say that he "had" to.
The regular, $100-a-piece wheelchairs that the airlines offer are nothing like the wheelchair that Kurt Fearnley normally uses. The phrase 'less mobile' is very accurate because it would have been much more difficult for him to operate, being a double above-knee amputee - you can't just go using some crappy run of the mill hospital wheelchair, it's not as safe and much more fatiguing in many instances.
It's like you requiring a hire care at the airport and the hire care company refusing to give you anything but the Flintstones version. Enjoy getting to your destination!
Wheelchairs are not all the same!
Actually, what he said was, it was humiliating to have someone push him in one. Which is really disrespectful to the thousands of other people requiring wheelchairs who have no problems using the facilities at the airport.
A disability is not an excuse to be rude and mean. Security were absolutely right to ask he switch chairs. If he had a problem he could have appealled to a manager, instead he chose to make a public spectacle and make things harder for other wheelchair users in future.
You're speaking about his reaction - I'm talking about the 'less mobile' choice he was offered prior to his reaction.
He may have been rude - I'm not sure as I'm only referring to this article for info re his reaction - but Jetstar also need to realise that not all disabilities are the same, and sometimes if someone has a physical disability that is not as common as others, their equipment needs vary as well. A change in equipment can change a ton of factors including endurance and risk of injury.
I actually agree with you that he wasn't right to say he 'had to' or was forced to crawl - he did have other options including having someone push him in the crappy standard manual wheelchairs provided, and to imply that he was somehow forced is to imply that Jetstar had no option available.
I think I'm more trying to address your first comment implying that he was being picky in wanting to use his own wheelchair. I think those of us who don't depend on using aids for our mobility don't realise how significant the custom changes to mobility equipment can be in terms on impact on ability to mobilise independently!
Ah! I understand. And I think I agree with what you are saying. Didn't mean to imply that all disabilities are the same and Jetstar should assume that they were.
I come from the other side of the equation, having worked in customer service (including OHS) my whole life, and it can be SO HARD to acomodate some people. What they think is reasonable simply isn't safe for other people, or safe for them, and there are reasons security measures are so strict on airlines. I don't think it's fair to take it out at the person behind the desk. In most cases there is a reasonable compromise, I think.
We just returned from Tasmania with Jetstar, four flights with husband in wheelchair. No problems with the whole process which we have used on three other occassions. He was taken in his own wheelchair out to Tarmac, switched to aisle width wheelchair and taken up in lift to seat. The Jetstar employees were friendly and helpful and they asked for directions on how best to transfer him comfortably and safely.
I always tick the assistance needed box when booking. I also check more than once before the day because I'm used to disability being a logistical challenge.
I casually mentioned to check in that I'm always early because I worry that the wheelchair will be overlooked. The employee said I would be surprised how often people turn up without booking assistance.
I cannot believe this man, who knows what he needs failed to make prior arrangements.