Airasia Turns Blind Man Away

[george]

AirAsia turns blind man away

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's Association of the Blind has condemned local airline Thai AirAsia for refusing to allow a blind American passenger to board a flight.

The airline turned away Dr Frederic Schroeder, who had a reserved seat on Saturday's Flight AK887 from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, said Monthien Boonton, the president of the association.

According to Monthien, airline staff told Dr Schroeder that blind passengers travelling alone were not allowed on board because there were no attendants to take care of them. Monthien claimed that many blind passengers had previously travelled alone on Thai AirAsia without any problems.

Dr Schroeder was forced to travel on Malaysia Airlines instead.

Monthien said the incident would affect Thailand's reputation because Dr Schroeder was a well-known person and a high-ranking officer of the US government.

Thai AirAsia's chief executive officer, Tassapon Bijileveld, defended the company's staff and said that it was not discriminatory to prevent disabled people from boarding the airline's planes if they were travelling alone.

"As a low-cost carrier, we have a limited number of flight attendants. Without companions, the disabled need one attendant to lead them to their seat and another to carry their bags. Providing such help would result in poorer service as a whole, as the attendants would be unable to take care of other passengers," Tassapon said in a phone interview.

He added that the airline welcomes the disabled when they have travelling companions.

--The Nation 2006-07-19

[giffarine]

When Thai AirAsia launched last year, before boarding they usually announce elderly passengers to board first & their check-in staffs were cautious. Now, they see passengers as low cost fliers & not so attentive, worst their staffs behave as if they own the airline. Anyone have any experiences about them? Flight schedules. Better to call them “Air Delay Asia”, flights took longer then any other low cost airlines.

[percy2]

When Thai AirAsia launched last year, before boarding they usually announce elderly passengers to board first & their check-in staffs were cautious. Now, they see passengers as low cost fliers & not so attentive, worst their staffs behave as if they own the airline. Anyone have any experiences about them? Flight schedules. Better to call them “Air Delay Asia”, flights took longer then any other low cost airlines.

Flew with them last week.

Flight crew were pretty good.

Ground crew were very snotty.

[Scott]

This is really poor. It's not like the guy wanted a window seat or something!

[Totster]

This is really poor. It's not like the guy wanted a window seat or something!

I shouldn't laugh... but...

totster

[Payboy]

Thai AirAsia's chief executive officer, Tassapon Bijileveld, defended the company's staff and said that it was not discriminatory to prevent disabled people from boarding the airline's planes if they were travelling alone.

Next time allow his dog to board with him then.

[giffarine]

This is really poor. It's not like the guy wanted a window seat or something!

Notice how peoples queue in AirAsia boarding gate to rush in to get seats, some place bags on seats to show it was occupied intend for their fellow traveling friends boarding later. Most leaving the centre seats empty just want to have bigger spaces of clamped seats. Flying next time see how the attitude of inconsiderate peoples AirAsia creates.

[Soju]

This is really poor. It's not like the guy wanted a window seat or something!

Notice how peoples queue in AirAsia boarding gate to rush in to get seats, some place bags on seats to show it was occupied intend for their fellow traveling friends boarding later. Most leaving the centre seats empty just want to have bigger spaces of clamped seats. Flying next time see how the attitude of inconsiderate peoples AirAsia creates.

Queue? What queue? When I've flown them, there is some initial queue, but as soon as they announce they will be boarding soon, a mass of people rush up to the gate totally ignoring any sort of queue. A completely amateur airline that can't even control their boarding process, not to mention their extreme late departures. No thanks, Nok Air is heaps better for a discount carrier, or Thai Air for a full feature airline.

[Goldenbead]

My mum visited over new year and we took her to KL for a couple of days and flew with Air Asia. She is an elderly lady and we requested a wheelchair at KLIA, which was fine. On arrival in Phuket, there was no wheelchair waiting, despite it being requested prior, and when it eventually arrived, 30 mins later, the girl was so snotty that we vowed not to use them again. They are crap!

[Losangels]

Same, same. Flew with them couple of times, once last year and beginning of this year to Hadyai from BKK. Everybody rushing to get on and departure delays of a least one hour

[giffarine]

My mum visited over new year and we took her to KL for a couple of days and flew with Air Asia. She is an elderly lady and we requested a wheelchair at KLIA, which was fine. On arrival in Phuket, there was no wheelchair waiting, despite it being requested prior, and when it eventually arrived, 30 mins later, the girl was so snotty that we vowed not to use them again. They are crap!

Supporting ground staffs are not trained for their professions. Cabin crews don’t need any half wings on the job to provide good services, they are mere pop drinks sellers, cabin cleaners and sadly they have to clean toilets on each landing. Bear with them if you travel at low cost. One need to book well in-advance to secure real low cost rates. Mind the steps, mind the rains, enjoys the delays “Air Delay Asia”

[salween]

One the one hand I find this kind of surprising, as I’ve flown Air Asia a few times and have seen the crew and ground staff attentive to the elderly. On the other, can’t say much for disability awareness in country where many blind people just hope they might get a job selling lottery tickets.

[giffarine]

Same, same. Flew with them couple of times, once last year and beginning of this year to Hadyai from BKK. Everybody rushing to get on and departure delays of a least one hour

Time & travels constrain make many to choose AirAsia, others prefers Nok Air or 1-2go with seat allocations, some soft drinks quenching thirsts. Before TG on this sector, they took 1 hour 10 minutes to fly. Nok Air & 1-2 go took 75 minutes, AirAsia took 90 to 100 minutes due to aircraft of more then 25 years old? Sometime cancellation or delays. common for an hours delays on most afternoon or evening AirAsia flights.

[giffarine]

One the one hand I find this kind of surprising, as I’ve flown Air Asia a few times and have seen the crew and ground staff attentive to the elderly. On the other, can’t say much for disability awareness in country where many blind people just hope they might get a job selling lottery tickets.

Hello Salween,

Do allow awareness of blind peoples & disable on wheel chairs selling lottery tickets. They did this to support themselves & their families if any, instead of begging on the streets. Have you try to workout their cost of lottery tickets displayed on their trays? They are given special allocation of tickets every fortnightly & mind you, they are better off then most average working Thais.

As for AirAsia services, they are better in the morning starting fresh, have you notice them how they works in the late evening?

[salween]

Hello Salween,

Do allow awareness of blind peoples & disable on wheel chairs selling lottery tickets. They did this to support themselves & their families if any, instead of begging on the streets. Have you try to workout their cost of lottery tickets displayed on their trays? They are given special allocation of tickets every fortnightly & mind you, they are better off then most average working Thais.

As for AirAsia services, they are better in the morning starting fresh, have you notice them how they works in the late evening?

Not to worry. I'm fully aware, which is why I made the point. Indeed you may be correct for some of them, and better than nothing for sure, but that’s just a small part. It's not just about better off than…, but attitudes, dignity and equality. There is very little consideration given to the disabled here as being a functioning part of society. Sure if you’re blind maybe you can be a masseuse, or a bicycle mechanic--oh yes, and the lottery—but you sure can’t walk the streets by yourself, and you can't expect to become an engineer. You're not treated as having the ability to do much else---when someone does, it’s headline news here. This is because society does not expect much else, thus does not offer much else. People here accept that things like lottery jobs are enough for them. The case of Aids patients is even worse. Sure a little money is better than none when you’re poor, but a little opportunity, respect for abilities and the ability to walk around on a basic foot path (or get on a plane?) would be much better than resigning oneself to pushing legalized gambling on the corner. Let's hope there's more awareness to come.

[salween]

As for AirAsia services, they are better in the morning starting fresh, have you notice them how they works in the late evening?

Oh, forgot! Yes, as can be the case with LCA's in many places I trust. Things often start fine, but by the time the plane reaches its fourth or fifth destination for the day, the delays seem to have mounted. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had an evening flight with them (3 so far) that was not at least an hour late. But I tend to expect this. And it's not just Air Asia, I've also had many domestic late night delays from Thai. They do get there, eventually.

[astral]

It is not so long since the days when the disabled were denied an education in Thailand.

Disgusting is the word that comes to mind.