Travelers' Tales of Misadventure

On a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta via Houston, Martha C's scooter sustained considerable damage. The wires underneath it had been pulled out and the ring that keeps the steering column attached to the base of the scooter was missing. Airline personnel spent about a half hour repairing it, but the scooter still cannot be lifted by the handles or the steering column gets detached

In a second incident on the same airline, Martha C's battery charger was broken. (1)

On a flight to Montana, Michelle B. lost the cushion to her chair. Also, while being wheeled to the plane in the airline's chair, she fell over and bruised her hip. She had to go to the emergency room and had many x-rays done to make sure that she hadn't broken her hip. The airline paid the bills, but they complained about the cost. Ms. B. considers herself lucky that she has not had more problems with her chair being damaged, but she lives in fear every time she flies. (2)
On a Saturday night flight from Atlanta to Detroit, the castor fork on Pam H.'s scooter was broken. Without the fork, the scooter is not operational. The airline told Ms. H that she was responsible for getting the scooter repaired, but since it was Saturday night she could not find a repair shop that was open. She finally found a shop that was closing, but the owner said that he would stay open for her. Ms. H had gone to Detroit to see her friend play with Eric Clapton; if it hadn't been for the benevolence of the repair shop owner, she would have missed the show and her trip would have been ruined.(2)
On a flight from Hawaii to Atlanta, Tara Hiott's folding wheelchair was damaged because baggage was stacked on top of it in the cargo hold. When she tried to use the chair, the wheels would lock. It took two weeks to get the chair repaired. Ms. Hiott expressed her relief that the chair had been damaged on the return trip; if it had been damaged on the trip to Hawaii, her vacation would have been ruined.(2)
When Ms Eileen TS from Columbia, SC arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, the chair was bent, a foot pedal was off and the wheels were bent so much they could not be pushed back into place. Although the airlines rented her a loaner chair she did not obtain it until she arrived home and so her vacation was ruined. It took 2-3 months to fix the chair. Although the airlines paid for the loaner chair it did not fit her and she was not independent during that time. (3)
An experienced Traveler, Mrs. Carol R. travels frequently with her scooters and her tales of woe are endless. On her return from a meeting in Las Vegas her scooter was returned to her in Denver with 4 different problems that took two weeks to repair and the following items required repairing or replacing: (3)

  • A bent catch on the tiller
  • A broken battery connection
  • A new battery harness
  • Realigning a brake

On another airline a chunk was torn out of a rim, and the axle and drive train were damaged. The rim cost over $1,000 and required 4 days to repair.(1)

Mr. Earl from Alabama was going on a trip to Europe for 2 weeks. He has a Quickie 2 that weighs 20 lb. . The airline fractured an extruded aluminum frame. The airline carrier rented an orthopedic chair for him for two weeks while the damage to his chair was being repaired. When he returned and saw the airline loading his chair at their hub he watched as his chair was left at the luggage loading area next to the plane. While watching the truck leaving the loading area he witnessed the truck run over his chair. Luckily, it did not break this time. (2) He now takes his tool kit when traveling.

Capt. C. B. of MS was traveling from California back to New Orleans and she had to change planes in Dallas and her scooter was damaged. The tiller was bent so that it pointed underneath the seat. They told her the door was not big enough to accommodate the scooter. The airline was notified upon making the reservations that she traveled with a scooter and they were using a MD80 plane whose cargo bin is too small to accommodate a scooter so that the airline could made other arrangements. After the airline wheeled the scooter onto the plane, they neglected to turn off the switch and it ruined the battery. Also, the speed control was broken. The total damage was $631.00. "My mobility is dependent upon my scooter," she says. She lives 125 miles from New Orleans. In order for the airlines to repair the scooter, she was asked to bring the scooter in for an exam. With her already limited mobility almost, this was very difficult. While they were fixing it and she had to rent another scooter.
A series of misadventures have happened to another traveler with a scooter on several different airlines. She writes that
  • The first incident occurred during a trip to Australia. My scooter was banged up, the armrest upholstery was ripped, and the seat adjustment was damaged. I think the cost for these repairs was up to $200.
  • The second incident was worse. As a result of poor handling, the scooter battery case was cracked, disrupting the connection that allows the scooter to function. Such extensive damage required the replacement of the entire scooter battery casing, which was approximately $1000. One of the wheels was also bent, but I didn't bother having it repaired.
  • The third incident occurred when the tiller mechanism on the scooter's steering device snapped off, virtually disabling the scooter. This was an expensive repair, as I was forced to replace the entire steering column as well as the tiller mechanism. This repair cost at least $1000.
  • In addition I have had problems with my manual wheelchair. The armrest of the chair was lost, but found later, although I had already rented a replacement wheelchair.

The airlines are not specifically identified. These types of problems can happen on all airlines. The airlines are aware of these problems and do try to address the customers' problems.