Woman forced to carry disabled sister off Jetstar flight
A woman had to carry her disabled sister off a Jetstar plane after the airline failed to provide their wheelchair upon landing.
When the two sisters touched down in Perth following a holiday in Melbourne, Jetstar staff were unable to tell Danae Florias, 24 where her sister's wheelchair was. As a result, she had to drag her 26-year-old sister Marissa through Perth Domestic Airport, reports the Daily Mail.
Marissa has cerebral palsy and requires her specially designed chair in order to sit up safely.
According to WA Today, the two sisters were sitting behind Jetstar CEO David Hall on the flight.
Ms Florias told him Jetstar staff had been helpful on the other flights they had taken during their holiday and he suggested they post a thank you comment on the airline's Facebook page.
But following their treatment at Perth airport, Ms Florias chose to post a complaint explaining how they waited until all other passengers had disembarked before inquiring about the whereabouts of their wheelchair only to be told they could use the airline's chair instead, which did not meet Marissa's needs.
"Your wheelchair is no good to me, my sister can't hold her body up, and needs her specific one designed for her specifically," Ms Florias told the staff member.
"She just looked at me with a blank look, I just got no response whatsoever. By that time my sister was hysterical because she gets very anxious so easily and was like 'oh my God they've lost my wheelchair'".
Ms Florias then carried her sister off the plane.
"I grabbed my sister, with my handbag and a box of Krispy Kremes, and I've carried her down the stairs, and all the way from the plane to inside the arrival lounge where my mum was waiting for us," she said.
"The look on my mum's face was just like, absolutely shocked, because she couldn't believe I had to drag my sister all the way inside. Then I had to dump my sister on my mum so I could go and find our suitcase and find the wheelchair."
Nobody helped Ms Florias to find the chair and she eventually discovered it in the oversized luggage.
On other flights, he chair had been put together by staff ready for use and brought to the plane.
"I would have thought that they could have said just wait 10 -15 minutes, we're really sorry, we'll go and get that for you if you don't mind," Ms Florias said.
"There was no sorry, no answers, I just got looked at blankly."
According to the New Daily, Jetstar has seen apologised for distressing the pair.
"We apologise to the family for the distress involved and we're investigating how this occurred," it said in a statement.
"Every year Jetstar carries 60,000 passengers with specific needs. These reports are concerning and do not reflect the normal flight experience of our disabled passengers, many of whom fly with Jetstar often."
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