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I was a passenger on a Southwest Air flight to Nashville tonight. I had requested assistance to the gate and boarded from a wheelchair.

So far so good.

My walker was taken and checked at the door to the plane so I only had my cane. I am recovering from a recent hip replacement and have limited mobility. I sat in the aisle seat in the 2nd row. Though my carryon was small it did not fit in the narrow space in front of my seat, which was substantially narrower than the space for the middle seat.

Due to my impairment there was no possible way for me to put the bag in the overhead bin or to access it once it was there. I needed access to it in flight, as I only had a small purse that didnโ€™t fit my computer or anything else I needed.

The flight was full. A tall substantially overweight woman boarded 9th from last and squeezed her way into the middle seat, which she overflowed. She immediately started making demands including that I remove my carry on bag from under the seat in front of her.

I explained to her there was no other place to put it this late in the boarding process as all of the storage space was filled. Having flown over 300,000 miles Iโ€™m quite familiar with plane protocol. And unfortunately those that board last have to take whatever space they can find. Thatโ€™s why airlines including Southwest charge more for โ€œearly boardingโ€ and premium seats that get the first shot at the overhead and under seat storage.

They do not get to board last and start rearranging the plane to their liking. Southwest specifically charges $25 for an โ€œEarly Boardingโ€ fee which allows passengers to move into the B class and board 2nd. This woman had a C boarding pass, meaning she was in the final group who were not guaranteed anything other than a seat on the plane,

I told this woman that there was no other place for me to put the bag where I would be able to access during flight because of my disability. She was obnoxious and kept saying โ€œsheโ€™d show meโ€.

I guess she did because she put on the poor poor pitiful me act, carrying on about her purse.

The flight attendant then huffed over to me literally as they were closing the door on the flight which was already 2 hours late, demanding that I put the bag in the overhead bin. I told her I was disabled and that I could neither place nor access my bag if it was in an overhead bin. I told her that I had special assistance in boarding the plane and my mobility, especially during flight, was limited.

Get this! The โ€œflight supervisorโ€, which was the only identification she would give me, said โ€œYouโ€™re not disabled.

I know you can walk, I saw you walk on to the planeโ€. I said โ€œyes, from a wheelchair that took me to the planeโ€™s door. Go check - youโ€™ll see I required special assistanceโ€. I am flabbergasted that a Southwest Flight Attendant, who works for an airline that prides itself on how well it treats and respects its passengers, would have the audacity and insensitivity to tell a passenger with a disability that she didnโ€™t believe that because they could walk 10 stepsโ€.

But she wasnโ€™t done.

I tried to speak to her rationally. I told her I was fine with her moving the bag as long as it was put in a place that I could access it during flight. She made a few more obnoxious and ignorant remarks and walked off. I couldnโ€™t get a word in edgewise between her and the other passenger bonding over how horrible I was.

The flight attendant and the woman kept trying to provoke me but I told them I was not going to argue with them. I reiterated to the flight attendant that I would happily move the bag when she had a place for me to put it.

I thought she was done. But she had something worse in store. The plane started to taxi to the runway a mere 2 hours late, when the pilot announced he was turning around to return to the gate because there was โ€œa situation arose that they had to

take care ofโ€ that would delay the flight even more.

200 passengers, including me were not happy over more delay,

When we got to the gate it turned out the situation was me! The Flight Supervisor came over and ordered me off the plane, making a huge scene to further embarrass me. As I tried to gather my things she screamed at me to move faster. She had an army of cops waiting at the door to hustle me away.

Meanwhile the rude, obnoxious woman next to me who started all this by boarding last and demanding everything be rearranged for her, was left alone and told not to worry, they were taking me off the plane. All because I had said I wouldnโ€™t move a carry on bag from the legal, under seat area it was stowed in, unless and until they found me another accessible place to put it. The simple easy solution to all this would have been to have this tall woman place her bag in the overhead bin. But instead Southwest preferred to make 200 passengers another hour late and take a 5โ€™1โ€ disabled woman off the flight on the flight attendantโ€™s sole say so.

To make things even worse they refused to take my luggage off the plane.

So now Iโ€™m in NY without anything while my bags are flying to Nashville. This was wrong on so many levels it boggles the mind. How an airline could be so abusive to a disabled passenger over a carry on bag that was correctly and legally stowed beneath the seat defies all logic and decency.

It was so blatant and disrespectful that the 6 cops the airline called in to escort me off the plane stood up for and defended me, ordering the equally rude Southwest Supervisor, who would only identify herself as Mae, to arrange round trip transportation for me to and from the airport at Southwestโ€s expense. Even more bizarrely the airline already had a boarding pass for me that they handed me on the plane for a 6 am flight the next day.

This defies all logic because had my behavior been so egregious as to justify turning the plane around, further delaying the flight, and then pulling me off of it, why would they give me a ticket for the very next flight? It makes no sense. That in and of itself shows they didnโ€™t consider me to be any sort of risk, nor did they have any justifiable reason to remove me. Even the police told them it was โ€œa very bad callโ€ on Southwesternโ€™s part and they saw no reason for their extreme behavior.

I hope your are as appalled as i am at Southwesternโ€™s handling of this situation.

There is no excuse for them ever treating a disabled passenger so despicably going so far as to deny their disability. They left me in NY without my luggage, after Iโ€™d waited 4 hours for a delayed flight, humiliated and abused me in front of a plane full . passengers, who they delayed at least another hour, over a small carry on bag, to mollify a passenger, who didnโ€™t pay the $25 the early boarding fee, yet still felt she was entitled to demand prime space even though she was one of the last to board.

A disabled passenger was similarly abused on a United Flight last year and that airline took a billion dollar stock hit. The only reason I wasnโ€™t dragged off the plane was I feared being physically abused if I refused to leave.

This careless call on Southwesternโ€™s part has cost me a fortune in additional expense and destroyed what was to be a brief happy break to see my oldest friend. Please support me in protesting Southwesternโ€™s despicable behavior towards the disabled by choosing any other airline.

Reason of review: Poor customer service.

Monetary Loss: $10000.

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.

Southwest Airlines Cons: Abusive to disabled passengers.

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Guest

You should have put your bag under the seat in front of you.Her seat her space.If she had a purse or small bag that is her spot for her bag.If not then put it in the bin and ask the flight attendant to get it once you take off.Bags only have to be stowed for takeoff and landing

Guest

If you put YOUR carry-on under the space in front of HER seat, then SHE is in the right. End of story.

Guest

I can tell you're a rude, nasty entitled person who wants things their way all the time. Look, you whine about this person overflowing into your seat while you tried to take up their foot space.

How much sense does that make? I would think someone who has flown 300K miles would already have a system in place(that follows the airline's rules)in place to ensure your comfort. Sounds like you've been getting over for a long time now and finally someone checked you on your @#$#.

You were crass, disruptive bore who got what she deserved. How about you stay at home and out of the way of people who are trying to do things and be happy.

Guest

Virtually everything here was your fault. You can't expect to fly nowadays without a full plane. Take the train.

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