Summary
United Airlines apologized to Melissa Sotomayor after crew members tried to make her remove her son’s ventilator during a March 8 flight from Tampa to Newark.
Sotomayor, whose 2-year-old son relies on a ventilator and tracheostomy tube, said staff demanded the equipment be stowed for takeoff despite prior medical clearance.
A third flight attendant claimed the child would “be OK” without it. The captain called her “difficult” and said the equipment was a safety risk.
Sotomayor expressed feeling humiliated and vowed never to fly United again.
I’ve used pre-boarding a lot, because my husband is quadriplegic, and especially when we also had two small children. There was always at least an offer of assistance from the crew, although I did the lifting and transferring and wheelchair-stowing myself. But it’s been a lot of years since we’ve flown at all, because planes have become even more inaccessible. They’re exempt from the ADA so it’s hard to change anything.
Thats good info. Thank you for sharing your experience.