The boss of an airline accuses healthy passengers of using a wheelchair service to gain priority on boarding.
The American low-cost airline Frontier Airlines is complaining about massive abuse of its wheelchair service. CEO Barry Biffle recently made this clear at an event at the Wings Club in New York, as the New York Post reports.
He himself observed that on one flight 20 passengers used the wheelchair service when boarding, but only three when disembarking.
“We heal so many people,” he joked, according to the New York Post. But the abuse causes significant costs for the airline and delays for other passengers, said Biffle. Each request for a wheelchair costs the airline between $30 and $35.
Passengers requesting wheelchair service will be given priority on boarding as the airline’s seating system operates on a first-come, first-served basis.
According to the New York Post, Frontier Airlines is not alone with this problem. Other airlines such as Southwest Airlines have also had similar experiences with “pre-boarding fraud.”
The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 prohibits airlines from discriminating against people with disabilities and requires them to ensure safe transportation, including providing wheelchairs to passengers during boarding.
The airline’s website states: “We are pleased to be able to offer this service to our passengers who require a wheelchair or mobility aid.”
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