Olimpia Warsaw found herself all alone at Chicago O’Hare International Airport late at night.
But she wasn’t waiting for a redeye. The wheelchair-bound 67-year-old who suffers from diabetes and Parkinson’s disease was left to fend for herself after her late flight to Detroit on American Airlines was cancelled.
She was in town for the funeral of her ex-husband and returned to the airport with her son. She and her son Claude were scheduled to leave around the same time and were traveling to different cities. After her son wheeled her to the gate, he reportedly confirmed his mother’s flight was on-time and was assured that she would be well taken care of. He left her and caught his own flight home.
But Warsaw never arrived in Detroit. Family members became worried, especially when the flight was cancelled. Finally, hours later, security tracked her down at Chicago O’Hare. She was still sitting in her wheelchair in her funeral attire in the check-in lobby.
After her flight was cancelled, a porter wheeled her to the American Airlines’s customer service counter. She was offered a hotel room, but not offered help in getting there. I am going to assume that it wasn’t the in-terminal Hilton and thus required a fairly arduous indoor/outdoor walk to the bus station and a potentially long wait in the cold…that’s Chicago O’Hare. Perhaps that process was not clearly explained.
The porter’s shift was up and told Warsaw she would now be on her own. Warsaw, who also has trouble communicating, just waited near the customer service desk. No one came up to her. No one helped her. Finally, she flagged down a stranger and asked for help using the restroom.
It was not until hours later that she was found.
Response from American Airlines
American has apologized and refunded her ticket:
We are very concerned about this, and have launched an investigation with our Chicago team and the vendor we utilize that provides wheelchair services at Chicago O’Hare.
We have spoken with the family multiple times, and met with them both in Chicago and Detroit yesterday. Our team has already refunded back the fare for this trip.
American also allegedly lost her luggage on the way.
My Take
You don’t leave an elderly person alone at the gate. Sure, AA failed. Sure, the porter failed. But if my grandmother needed to travel you can bet that she would NEVER travel alone. Delays can happen after boarding. Flights can be diverted. If your loved one is essentially unable to fend for herself, you really should be with her the entire time.
Warsaw is only 67. I suppose her disability could be an exaggeration meant to extract compensation. But watch the video above. I doubt it. And therefore all parties failed her, including her family.
CONCLUSION
Thankfully, Warsaw is now safe at home. She made it back…a day late.
Would you put a loved one on a flight alone and leave before you knew she was in the air?
12/05 UPDATE: The story was FALSIFIED.
> Read More: What Does A Lying Imbecile Teach Us About Airline Compensation And Truth Itself?
@Matthew
“I suppose her disability could be an exaggeration meant to extract compensation.”
No offense, but is it really your job to make commentary on and question people’s disabilities?
I’ve seen too many “Jetway Jesus” incidents not to…
Please understand there are other explanations for Jetway Jesus cures.
I was transferring at MXP from national to International with loads of time. I was able to walk but was accommodate in a wheelchair. The transport service kept telling me I had time while really they were wrong. They made me miss the last flight to ZRH along with some other pax. Someone realized there was a flight to BSL also departing but we all had to run. I was out of my chair and hopping to the door where they brought a van and got us onto the small airplane on a taxiway.
The Jesus moment was short and painful. I needed help in BSL requiring them to operate an elevator that was off for the evening.
A person can be disabled and still able to walk or hop a bit.
I would not judge the family. They did everything foreseeable, the son was at the gate and verified that the flight was operational.
I also can not judge the airline, travel is geared to able bodied people and their responsibility ends at the door. They did offer accommodations that an able bodied person could have used.
If an airline would have to be responsible for all possibilities they would either try to avoid flying disabled persons or demand an exorbitant fee. If the fee is not permitted all passengers would end up paying more.
I can absolutely see how an infrequent traveler might believe in this situation that her/his grandmother will be fine. She was led to the gate where agents assured of an on-time flight and promised to take care of her. Obviously, *I* would never ever trust an AA flight to be on time unless and until the plane physically departed terra firma at the appointed hour, having experienced many “on time” flights boarding hours late. I think this is simply the difference between the average joe and folks who fly a lot.
I am sorry but it is not the airline’s fault. A handicapped person who is wheelchair bound should always be accompanied by a member of the family or a care giver at all times. The airlines should not be expected to assume that role.
I was on an AA flight in the last year that departed “terra firma” and then declared an emergency due to a fuel leak 30 minutes later and immediately returned to the airport, complete with fire trucks spraying down the plane and everything. I do not think there is any point at which a flight departs where you could be completely assured someone gets from Point A to Point B. That’s why it’s the airline’s responsibility. That said, you can’t expect the airline to take on the responsibility of carting you from the airport to another location.
Obviously, the airline failed — or, more precisely, the contracted porter who apparently left her unattended at the end of his shift failed miserably — but handicapped pax who are not fully communicative should NEVER fly alone. I mean, this is common sense. Are there no Fed regs on this?
Obviously it’s different there but at my airport, special persons are attended from the aircraft to their transportation and from check-in to the aircraft. At no point are they simply left alone unless waiting for boarding.
Crazy to think she was simply left to find for herself. Seems American should have enforced their companion rules. This lady clearly can’t get around on her own and isn’t really their responsibility every step of the way. Nevertheless, they did accept she was fit to travel under the circumstances, when that changed more definitely should have been done to ensure the customer was taken care of.
67 is elderly???? Seriously? I would rather say: “Don’t abandon someone who needs assistance”. And don’t blame the porter but rather the systems failure of AA..but it’s always the little guy getting blamed/screwed rather than the fat cat execs presiding over penny-pinching, customer unfriendly policies ( carte-blanche in that regard for the past couple of years).
I don’t mean that all 67-year-olds are elderly…just this one.
I wouldn’t judge the family for their actions. Funerals are tough. It might be the first time ever that some of the relatives have flown. They’re also likely stressed and anxious that they had to pay a lot of money for the flights, they are dealing with the emotions of bereavement, and they wanted to make it possible for the deceased’s wife to be at the funeral to the point that it was this or not being able to get her there. I agree with you that some of reasonable and sound mind likely wouldn’t leave their relative alone in this situation but I cannot assume they were thinking clearly in what is already a stressful situation. AA dropped the ball not only when they failed to meet the minimum standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act but when they assured the family member at the gate that this lady would be taken care of and then didn’t take care of her.
Might want to update your take here in light of new information
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheelchair-ohare-airport-20181204-story.html
Another reason why it’s wise not to jump to conclusions when posting these types of stories. Or to just resist the temptation to go Daily Mail in the first place. There’s a lot more going on than meets the eye:
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/american-airlines/2018/12/04/american-airlines-says-security-footage-shows-woman-wheelchair-wasnt-abandoned
Daily Mail finding the truth…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6459313/Woman-not-left-stranded-Chicagos-OHare-airport-overnight.html
I will be addressing.
Great work by the Mail.
Although I no longer fly US Air, I mean American Airlines, I found it hard to believe that they would dump someone in a wheel chair. Glad the “rest of the story” came out.
Wether or not it is true it is believable without a doubt. I don’t know why people keep confusing American with a transportation company. They are a sales and marketing company. There is significantly more attention paid to collecting money and virtually no attention, obviously, to getting somebody to their destination. If you make it, that is fine but the goal of the company is to sell tickets not provide transportation and certainly not to push people around in wheelchairs.
I dont have simpathy for AA,my luggage damaged by AA handlers,i was told by an flight attendant i was carring my toilet,he said in inglish language as i was abording the plane in El Salvador,we enter in a confrontation inside the plane….OFFENSIVE STUPID FLIGHT ATTENDANT.