Warning: Air France's Treatment of Disabled Travelers

Warning: Air France

June 2008

Global Access News recently received the following letter from Mr. Prafulla and Mrs. Vaijayanti Dunung regarding their challenging experiences in March while using the carrier Air France. They submitted their letter to both Air France and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

We encourage our readers to report any unlawful, inadequate or negligent treatment they experience while flying. Please share your experiences with Global Access News so that other disabled travelers may avoid such abusive carriers.

Ms.Marti Gacioch, Editor

RE: Air France Flight date: March 11, 08
Travelling from Mumbai to Paris, Paris to Chicago USA
Complaint addresses travel between Paris and Chicago ORD Fl/No. AF 050

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing with regards to recent travel on your airlines.

My wife and I recently traveled on Flight AF 050 from Mumbai to Chicago via
Paris. My 65 year old wife is handicapped with muscular dystrophy. With
significant assistance, she can walk slightly and very slowly for very short
distances. Walking up and down stairs is extremely difficult. We had
registered this information with your airline and requested a wheel chair
months in advance of the actual travel date.

When we arrived in Paris in route to Chicago, there was no wheelchair
available, and we were left waiting on the airplane for more than an hour.
After an hour, we were very rudely told no chair was available and she would
have to walk down 30 steps, a fact we told them was extremely difficult and
highly risky for her. Furthermore, it was raining and she was forced to
slowly walk down the very slippery stairs. We were drenched by rain as it
took her 25 minutes to descend the 30 steps. No Air France personnel offered
or provided umbrellas or even cared as we got rained on. No expressed any
concern for her safety or well being.

When we finally reached the bottom, the van was so high that a handicapped
person with limited ability could not get on. Additionally, there was no
ramp or other means to climb into the van. Again, no Air France staff
offered or provided assistance. I was forced to lift her feet one at a time
and hoist her onto the plane. I am 70 years of age and this was not an easy
physical task for me. At the tarmac for the next flight, she was placed in a
very unsafe wheel chair with no side rests or seat belt to ensure safety.
Handicapped people usually cannot control their bodies or prevent themselves
from rolling off a chair. This wheel chair with no safety restraints was
rolled into a small cabin and lifted up to the back of the plane. There were
no Air France personnel accompanying her at any point of this process to
ensure her safety. I was told to enter the plane through the normal
passenger stairs and was not able to protect her safety. During her ascent
into the plane, she rolled from side to side of the small carrying cabin,
bruising several ribs in the process. Once in the plane, no Air France
personnel apologized or provided ice for her injured body. We were flying
coach and were treated as if we were in the baggage compartment.

We are outraged by the callous, racist and discriminatory behavior of the
Air France staff. The staff indicated several times during the entire
journey that it was not their job to help her or assist in any way and
perhaps we should fly another airline next time. We are shocked that airline
staff would treat passengers this way, even in today's time when air travel
is becoming increasingly hostile to customers.

We trust that Air France does not intend to be a discriminatory airline
towards American and older, disabled adults as well as those from different
ethnic backgrounds. Unless Air France can demonstrate that it addresses the
needs of handicap travelers seriously, we and others with disabilities may
choose to fly other global airlines. We are informing the US Department of
Transportation of this compliant, along with a number of travel groups for
ethnic, adult and handicapped travelers. It's clear that Air France does not
want people like us to fly on them. It is most unfortunate that the national
airline of France chooses to treat people in this manner.

Best regards,
Prafulla Dunung

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