Community Chat

[wildcherry]

The daughter leaves her diabetic and slightly forgetful mother under the care of some skycap and leaves? She was idiot for not seeing to it that her mother got on that plane, period, whatever it took.

[september]

I thought skycaps just checked luggage?

In any event, even if they assume other duties, a compete stranger is not someone I'd leave one of my older parents with. How is the skycap supposed to know that the woman would not be able to make her presence known and get on her flight in time? It's not like he/she had access to her medical records, and knew of her health issues.

[september]

On 8/26/2014 ROMARY said:

p.s. I must say that I feel sorry for the mom, sitting there all day long. No food, water, bathroom, etc. OMGosh. . . . .

If this is what the woman did all day, and never stopped anyone to ask for help, my guess is that she has Alzheimer's disease/dementia, and should not have been traveling alone.

I feel badly for her, too, but her daughter, who knew of her problems, was the one at fault here.

[pinkskates4]

There is a lot that is confusing in this story.

Apparently the program for unaccompanied minor children can also be used for adults who need the same kind of assistance (and the airline charges for this service.)

In this case, however, it doesn't seen like this service was used. Skycaps are different than airline employees.

It is not clear what the skycap was told - or how unable the mom was to communicate with people that she needed help.

I don't get why her daughter just left her with the skycap. But I may be missing something.

[sidsmom]

On 8/26/2014 september said:

On 8/26/2014 ROMARY said:

p.s. I must say that I feel sorry for the mom, sitting there all day long. No food, water, bathroom, etc. OMGosh. . . . .

If this is what the woman did all day, and never stopped anyone to ask for help, my guess is that she has Alzheimer's disease/dementia, and should not have been traveling alone.

I feel badly for her, too, but her daughter, who knew of her problems, was the one at fault here.

I saw the news video interviewing both the mother/daughter. Both were very lucid & focused.

The mother could've have easily asked someone for help. Not questioning her physical capability, but the video made me think she could have easily & slowly moved the wheelchair herself.

There are a zillion people in an airport...even the smaller airports...to ask for help. I agree....there's a lot that is confusing about this. Setup?.

[brii]

A setup is a huge possibility. People are always looking to make a fast buck.

[pinkskates4]

On 8/27/2014 sidsmom said:

On 8/26/2014 september said:

On 8/26/2014 ROMARY said:

p.s. I must say that I feel sorry for the mom, sitting there all day long. No food, water, bathroom, etc. OMGosh. . . . .

If this is what the woman did all day, and never stopped anyone to ask for help, my guess is that she has Alzheimer's disease/dementia, and should not have been traveling alone.

I feel badly for her, too, but her daughter, who knew of her problems, was the one at fault here.

I saw the news video interviewing both the mother/daughter. Both were very lucid & focused.

The mother could've have easily asked someone for help. Not questioning her physical capability, but the video made me think she could have easily & slowly moved the wheelchair herself.

There are a zillion people in an airport...even the smaller airports...to ask for help. I agree....there's a lot that is confusing about this. Setup?.

I wondered about that too. Even in the article, the mother seemed to be able to clearly communicate what happened to her - so unless she had some sort of episode that day and was totally out of it, I'd think she could have asked for help.

[Kachina624]

On 8/26/2014 ROMARY said:

p.s. I must say that I feel sorry for the mom, sitting there all day long. No food, water, bathroom, etc. OMGosh. . . . .

The woman must have been pretty far gone mentally to have sat there for 11 hours without asking for help. She definitely shouldn't have been flying alone.

I always fly Southwest and must use wheelchair service. Without exception, I've always been treated like a queen. On my last trip I changed planes in Denver. They were short of help so the co-pilot wheeled me up the jetway to the lobby. I've often had the pilot or co-pilot help me put my bag in the overhead. I find it hard to believe this happened. If someone sat there that long, an employee would have noticed.

[151949]

Whom on earth would allow someone who is ""forgetful"" to fly alone and then not even take her to the gate to assure she gets on the flight. This is NOT the airlines or the airport's fault - it was the responsibility of the family.

[Mj12]

I just watched a video of an interview the mother & her Denver daughter did with their local news channel. I agree with what was posted above, the elderly mother was totally lucid and focused. And feisty. I have a hard time believing she would sit in her wheelchair without, at some point, trying to get the attention of a passerby or an airline employee, anyone.

I have a very hard time believing the story.