The Portland Pounders wheelchair rugby team said United Airlines was not appropriately equipped for a flight with 20 of their passengers in wheelchairs.
PORTLAND, Oregon — A Portland wheelchair rugby team’s fun weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, was dampened last weekend after what some players have described as a “fiasco” and a “nightmare” experience.
The team was in Louisville for a Paralyzed Veterans of America event, where they had the opportunity to compete in a large wheelchair rugby competition. There, some like Max Woodbury got to compete, and even brought home an award for being the best low pointer in his division.
But the United Airlines flight back from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport to Chicago O’Hare was less than pleasant.
“A nightmare, a fiasco, the worst air travel experience I’ve been a part of, and I’ve been traveling all my life,” said Woodbury.
They were intending to then go from Chicago to Portland but missed their connecting flight due to the problems getting to Chicago.
United said in a statement the flight’s cancelation was due to severe weather, but Woodbury said there was more to it than that. He said once they initially boarded, they were then forced to deboard due to the airline informing them their de-icing machines were not working.
Then, they were finally able to board again — but then were required to deboard once more, after learning the crew had exceeded their hours and could not fly, which also contributed to the delay.
What slowed the process even more was the issue of there not being enough aisle chairs.
“We use aisle chairs to get on our flight. There was only one for the 20 athletes that were getting on and off. We requested multiple,” explained Woodbury.
Woodbury said nine of the athletes were with the Portland Pounders, while the rest were with other wheelchair rugby teams.
Having only one aisle chair for the several players extended the time getting on and off the flight significantly.
Woodbury said it was not until after midnight when they got off the flight the second time — to then wait in the airport overnight.
“It was after 12:30 before we got off the flight,” he said. “That was supposed to leave at 5:45 or something like that. So, a long day of not going anywhere.”
Woodbury said United did provide the players with hotel vouchers, but due to many of them being high-level quadriplegics, they would require specific transportation, which they said the airline did not help them find.
As a result, many were forced to stay in their wheelchairs overnight.
“Sitting in our wheelchairs, which is not good for most of us who don’t have sensation, there’s a chance that you can get pressure sores, and so sitting in a wheelchair for long amounts of time is highly, highly difficult and highly problematic,” explained Woodbury.
The next afternoon, they were finally able to leave Kentucky and then arrived back in Portland by Monday night.
In a statement, a United spokesperson wrote:
“On February 16, severe weather in Louisville led to the cancelation of United flight 3640 to Chicago O’Hare. We reached out individually to our customers and provided updates on the status of their wheelchairs, the ways in which we’d reunite them with their belongings and offer compensation. We have since reunited the customers with their baggage and chairs.”
They also separately acknowledged the de-icing machine having technical difficulties, as well as the crews exceeding their hours contributing to the delay.
When it came to aisle chair issues, they said they did not have an information about that at this time.
However, in a statement from the Louisville Regional Airport Authority regarding the incident at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, they wrote this in part:
“While other airlines at SDF were able to accommodate numerous other PVA tournament participants as they departed on Sunday, February 16, United Airlines and their subsidiary, United Ground Express that operate at SDF failed to meet our customer service standards. The United Ground Express staff did not provide the level of service that we expect travelers at our airport and visitors to our community to receive. Following this, executive leadership of the Airport Authority including Executive Director Dan Mann soon met with the President of United Ground Express and corporate leadership of United Airlines to address their performance failures locally and ensure there are actionable steps in place as we move forward.”
Woodbury said that overall, he would describe himself as a positive person, but by Monday, he was upset over the ordeal.
“We’re just trying to live our lives just like everybody else, and so it’s nice when people are aware that there are certain accommodations that are required by law for us to be able to access everything that we can,” he said.
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