Disabled woman to attempt out of court settlement with Jetstar

[anat0l]

Disabled woman to attempt out of court settlement with Jetstar | News.com.au

LAWYERS for a disabled woman who is suing Jetstar after she was banned from a flight from Adelaide to Brisbane have agreed to make one last attempt to settle before going to a Federal Court hearing.

...

She was told Jetstar had a policy of only allowing a maximum of two wheelchair-reliant passengers on any flight.

Ms King has taken the low-budget airline to the Federal Court, claiming it discriminated against her by "treating her less favourably than a passenger who did not have a mobility disability that required the use of a wheelchair", a statement of claim tendered to the court says.

...

Ms King claims that in denying her the right to fly, Jetstar breached the Disability Discrimination Act.

More rubbish - both sides are nuts in this case.

"Banned from a flight?" Hardly! She can still fly - she's not a terrorist. Sheesh! "Denied the right to fly?" That's what happens to people in the slammer or who threaten to blow up planes.


JQ is nuts for reasons we already know. What is the whole thing about LCCs and disabled pax policies.


I love the No News stock photos, though they should have got one of a JQ Tiger Moth....seems more appropriate in more ways than one....

 

[samh004]

While their policy is arbitrary, they have to draw the line somewhere and they contacted her only a day after she made the booking online. They didn’t wait till she arrived at the airport, or anything bad like that.

Sure, everyone should be treated equally, but taking it to the extreme, what if everyone on the flight was in a wheelchair, would the plane leave/arrive on time? Probably not.

This time it’s not a rule that’s not printed clearly on the site, it took me 5 seconds (and that was mainly waiting for the page to load) to find their policy. Now, that wording may have been added after the fact, but there’s no way to find out. In the article she states she was phoned by JQ the day after, while the website explicitly says she should have called them after her booking to advise of the level of support needed.

She would have been offered an alternative flight, a re-routing or a refund. Instead, she’s chosen to sue.

 

[ejb]

...Sure, everyone should be treated equally, but taking it to the extreme, what if everyone on the flight was in a wheelchair, would the plane leave/arrive on time? Probably not.

....

I had another slant on this.

What if there was an emergency requiring slides and 25 wheelchair pax on board, what hope would we all have of getting out within the 90 seconds rule, none!

For everyones safety airlines need to limit the number of "special needs" pax, including UM's and even I think babies are limited.

People need to get a life and stop trying to blame everybody for every little hurdle they face in life.

ejb

 

[notmensa]

I have yet another slant.
The article does not say if she uses a mobility device (eg wheelchair) or if the other 2 pax already booked do. If so, there is an issue with how many wheelchairs can be safely stowed in the cargo hold. This is especially a problem with powerdrive wheelchairs which are both heavy (many are at least 80 kg) and need to be restrained in the cargo hold. There is usually only space for 2 to be safely carried on a 767 - and that's provided they fit through the door of the cargo hold. There's also the issue of OH&S for airline staff. Qantas workers had some serious manual handling injuries from handling large wheelchairs a few years back.

 

[MelUser]

I tried to fly with our baby on a particular jetstar flight - not by choice but by necessity - we were going to Hamilton Island and qantas does not dly there from Melbourne. I was trying to book online and it wouldn't work so I phoned jetstar.

Anyway, they said that they only allow a certain number of infants on each flight and as the max had been reached for the flight I wanted I was not allowed to travel.

I calmly booked us on to another flight.

I did not threaten to sue anybody nor did I become angry nor did I see it as a way to extort money out of an airline.

I understand that by travelling with an infant I am different to most other passengers and I accept that this difference carries with it extra airline requirements.

I understand that as a passenger with special needs (this is the very polite term that Qantas uses, I am not sure what work jetstar uses) I must accept different travel policies than those applying to regular (note I didn't use the word normal) passengers.

I don't think the woman in question shares my philosophy.

 

[medhead]

Gee I'm reading some double standards here perhaps. You/we all expect o be able to book a flight at a time that suits pay for it and then to be able to fly on that flight (all things being equal). I understand that airlines have operational issues to deal with but there is a law that says disabled peole cannot be discrimated against. By not allowing this pax to fly on the flight that best suits her needs, the flight of her choice, like any able bodied pax can do, jetstar has discrimated against the person.

This is 100% a jetstar problem because they could have applied for an exemption from the discrimation laws at anytime. If they had of exercised that legal process on he basis of safety this pax wouldn't be able to take this action.

 

[anat0l]

From what I read here, the mere act of refusing carriage of this pax is discrimination, period.

Unless JQ would have been forced to break some law that there was no possible workaround, then it had to do whatever it could to carry this passenger on her nominated flight, irrespective of cost or inconvenience. Perhaps they would have had to bump some other pax.

Either that or it is JQ's fault anyway because their systems/policies of carriage of disabled pax was faulty in the first place, so they can't escape this charge but they will be forced to change it in the future.

Although JQ is in the spotlight here this could easily apply to any airline.

 

[samh004]

Perhaps they would have had to bump some other pax.

They should have bumped one of the other 2 wheelchair pax already booked and hoped one of them wouldn’t sue.

I thought about another thing, JQ’s seats are tight. Now it doesn’t go into detail about how immobile she is, but realistically I doubt squeezing her into a row anywhere on the plane would be useful to her, or other passengers.

This is the state of the world, nobody can be discriminated against… however in doing so, you’re creating all sorts of hassles to everyone else, just so someone can fit in. The line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[Alanslegal]

I guess JQ and other airlines should be more clearer on how many wheelchair bound pax are allowed per flight. Just like how buses have a licensing limits which are stamped near the doors eg. licensed to carry 60 seated, 15 standing and 2 wheelchair - but airlines should have it on the flight information.

Totally agree with you ejb - and in the unlikely event of an emergency, hope practically that those wheelchair folks leave the plane last as I do not want a wheelchair blocking the only escape to get away from the burning or sinking plane.

I had another slant on this.

What if there was an emergency requiring slides and 25 wheelchair pax on board, what hope would we all have of getting out within the 90 seconds rule, none!

For everyones safety airlines need to limit the number of "special needs" pax, including UM's and even I think babies are limited.

People need to get a life and stop trying to blame everybody for every little hurdle they face in life.

ejb

 

[anat0l]

Out of curiosity, how does one evacuate a disabled pax?

For example, water evacuations, evacuation slides, life rafts. I assume cabin crew need to help (read: carry) any disabled pax - not a trivial task and will probably required the assistance of many fellow pax (we are presuming that an average pax is benevolent and able enough to assist in an emergency).

Has any airline tested their evacuation procedures to take this into account?

What about pax with other special needs (e.g. blind, deaf or mute, requires oxygen, wearing a neck brace, UMs, etc.)?