American Airlines apologizes after disabled woman left overnight in airport
American Airlines has apologized for stranding a disabled woman overnight alone at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and has started an investigation.
Olimpia Warsaw, 67, was taken to the gate for a flight to Detroit but the flight was cancelled.
She was then left by an airport porter who offered to accommodate her in a hotel, but was not willing to actually take her to a hotel.
Warsaw suffers from parkinson’s disease and diabetes and due to medication has a hard time communicating said Warsaw’s son Julian Coltea.
The porter apparently told her his shift was over and couldn’t assist her anymore and so was left on her own.
"She actually had to find a random passenger to help her out just to go to the bathroom because the porters had already left for the night," Coltea told CBS.
"I really think that they need to revisit their policies for dealing with the elderly and disabled."
The airline acknowledged if should have done better.
"We have launched an investigation with our Chicago team and the vendor we utilize that provides wheelchair services at O’Hare. While this investigation is still underway, we are already developing a process with our vendor to ensure this does not happen again," American said in a statement.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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