[Charles-P]

On a lighter note when I arriving in Dubai this week I heard an American princess say loudly to her friend, “do we have to line up with the little people ?” There was not as I first thought a dwarf convention in town but in fact we her fellow passengers were the “little people”.

[canucklad]

Well Charles & DutchYankee, If stupidity could be used as an excuse for wheel chair access do you think the American business woman who during the Ash Cloud week asked if the cancelled flights also extended to business class passengers would qualify ?

[dutchyankee]

That is too funny Canucklad, did that really happen?

[Bath_VIP]

One of the eternal rules of life is that if a system is inefficient and/or unsatisfactory, there will always be people who will seek to abuse the system. The best way to reduce abuse of the security queue is to make the whole security experience quicker and easier for everyone.

It’s the same for taxation, the best way to reduce tax evasion and aggressive avoidance is to make the tax system simpler which often results in reduced tax rates but higher tax receipts.

Otherwise we are left with naming & shaming, proof of identity, allegations of discrimination and general bad temper all around.

[dutchyankee]

@Bath_VIP

+1

[canucklad]

@Bath_VIP

+ 2

And yes, DY it appeared as a BBC news item, and what made her nonsense even funnier was the sheer look of indignence when told that unfortunately the business class cabins where located on the same aircraft as the economy class cabins !

[dutchyankee]

Hilarious!!!! I wonder if she ever shows her face in public after that!!!

[Charles-P]

Returning the thread to issues around disability I remember talking to a blind man on a flight on how he navigated around airports and he remarked at the regular kindness of strangers in the UK, the US and most of Europe but the incredible difficulties he encountered in India where even when he asked directly for assistance he was ignored. He put this down to a cultural fear of disability.

Remarkably he was a reasonably regular air traveler and said how when walking through Terminal 5 at Heathrow he would always have somebody offer to help and he also commented on the police there who he also said often came forward to offer assistance. He also made me laugh by telling me a story of a TSA officer in the US who repeatedly held up items from his carry on bag and said, “what’s this” which of course resulted in the reply, “I have no idea I’m blind”

[BigDog.]

Wheelchairs and slow moving queues don’t mix –
On one side they have a momentum and depending on the size of the person being propelled can be difficult to stop closely. To avoid any chance of Achilles/ankle tapping of the person in front as clearly the foot rests may protrude or the person infront not realising turns round and falls into the chair, one leaves a gap. Opportunists sometimes fill the gap. They are difficult to manoeuvre especially if the pusher is smaller or there are U turns in a queuing cordon/system.
However, there is no reason why the whole party needs to get preferential treatment also. It is better the chair user and pusher merely wait for the rest of the party to be processed needlessly.

Disabled people need extra consideration however when this may appear to be abused then all disabled people maybe adversely impacted.

Disney land/world picked up on this abuse as it once was possible to hire a disabled person in order for the whole party to queue jump the (often very long) ride queues. That behaviour certainly caused resentment.

[SimonS1]

MartynSinclair – 15/05/2014 06:40 GMT
I am just trying to understand why a wheel chair passenger needs to jump Q’s to simply have to endure the same wait on the other side….

Haven’t we done it to death now?

Maybe because in the majority of cases the pushers are likely to be airport staff, presumably there is a need to get people from a to b as quickly as possible so other guests can be helped – it is not always the same people that help the passenger on to the plane (unless you are suggesting we should discriminate between people pushed by airport staff and those pushed by family).

Also maybe because many years of experience have taught airports that it is the easiest way to manage flows, avoid bumping people in regular queues.

And maybe because for those who have a disability, are infirm etc it as a way of slightly easing the hassle of getting through the airport and dealing with a gate situation where frequently there are at least 50% of passengers who seem to be jockeying to board as “priority”. Not to mention avoiding the scrum of people who do their best to block access to the jetty even when their boarding row/zone has not been called.

And maybe because these days the time to turn the aircraft around has been cut to the minimum and by doing it that way it helps to prepare and get the aircraft boarded as quickly as possible avoiding delay, loss of slot, missed connections etc etc.

All of which I believe is totally different to people who do this for convenience reasons. That is totally unacceptable but as others have explained for legal reasons it is not always easy to prevent.

Is it all such a big deal? Are other travellers so badly inconvenienced? I must say Martyn I respect your views on a lot of things but I am starting to wonder what point you are really trying to make here.

If you would like to reflect on the other side of the coin see this thread on Flyertalk about someone who missed their flight as their assistance was late arriving at the BA lounge. Quite possibly because there are a limited number of pushers who are subject to being delayed in the airport and the tut tut of other people whose boarding and glass of sparkling whatever may be delayed by a few minutes.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1571248-ba-treatment-special-assistance-passenger-missed-departure.html

[MartynSinclair]

SimonS1 – the whole point of the thread Simon was not about making a point, but merely trying to be educated about the needs of wheel chair passengers..

Still no clearer why wheelchair passengers need to skip a security Q. Does it bother me, not really thought about it……

[SimonS1]

I think many people have explained on here why they feel it happens Martyn,and I just find it strange that you feel the need to keep labouring it.

Presumably you don’t accept that what people are saying has any merit which is why you keep asking the same question.

[Communipaw]

I have to agree with you here SimonS1.

This has been beaten to death beyond belief

http://awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/dead-horse.gif

[MartynSinclair]

Simon, my question was specific about Q jumping at security by wheel chair users.

It was not about passengers;

*boarding an aircraft

*going through border control/immigration

*bladder control

*getting off the aircraft

*dogs in lounges

…all of which I understand and see the need.

I still don’t understand the need for Q jumping at security….. but, happy for the discussion to end….

A couple of weeks ago, I was chastised by a wheel chair user for offering assistance in a department store in central London…. “I don’t need any special treatment”…. I was using the forum for education…..

[SimonS1]

And people have answered your question Martyn. See previous replies in this thread.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/have-an-axe-to-grind

[Author]

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