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no wheel chair assistance on Sunday

slotmanal
Explorer C

had wheelchairs ordered for our flights to FLORIDA AND BACK TO las Vegas I AM A 100PERCENT DISABLED vet and my wife recently had triple bypass. Returning to Vegas we from Ft Lauderdale we almost missed our flight since we had no one to wheel us to gate and we had to walk. IUn Vegas we waited for over 3o minutes to be wheeled to baggage claim and no one came and we had to walk we couldnt find our luggage once we got there since it was removed

4 REPLIES 4

Re: no wheel chair assistance on Sunday

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Did you speak to a Southwest employee at the airport and ask for them to request a wheelchair?

Wheelchair service is provided by the airport, not the individual airlines.  If Southwest puts in a request it goes to the company that provides the service to the airport and Southwest can't do much more than ask for service.  If you did ask, perhaps all staff was busy?

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: no wheel chair assistance on Sunday

angied4610
Explorer C

I can understand your frustration. I flew 2 weeks ago with my mother who is currently undergoing chemo and shouldn't walk much. We had requested wheelchair assistance for our departing airport, our connecting airport and our destination airport. Each airport we found a very different experience. I can say that there are two things they all had in common and that was EXTREMELY HEAVY FOOT TRAFFIC and AMAZINGLY CARING EMPLOYEES. The airports were PACKED but the Southwest employees were kind, generous and accomodating. Indianapolis had enough staff to accommodate our needs. Phoenix was packed in the peak of the busyness. The stewardess apologized for the delay but shared that the wheelchairs wouldn't be there for possibly up to an hour. My mother went ahead and walked off the plane but I went looking for a wheelchair to use as she went to the restroom. I found a closeby corral full of wheelchairs. I grabned one and my mom was settled back in the wheelchair to comfortably be transported to the connecting flight. When we arrived in Portland, we again were apologized to and told that it would be possibly a 30 minute delay. My mom walked off the plane but greeted in the gangway by an elderly gentleman/staff member who situated her into the chair. They wheeled her up the ramp but apologized and said they needed to help remove the rest of the passengers who needed wheelchair assistance. I let them know that we could push her and thanked him for his help. We headed for the restroom and I stood with the emoty wheelchair and waited outside the restrooms. Within mere minutes, we met Catherine. She was an angel. She came up, apologized and said that she could help pushing mom the rest of the way. She was extremely knowledgeable, thoughtful and kind. While we walked and Catherine pushed, we inquired about the wheelchairs and Catherine mentioned that during Covid's height of quarantine, staff members had to find new jobs. Now that Southwest can hire them back, they have either gotten new jobs or have been reluctant to return yet. So my reply is to share that each airport is attempting to provide their services the best that they can. I love that their employees care so much. So during COVID, please offer some patience. They are trying their hardest. But I completely understand your frustration. My mom REALLY needed to use the restroom and couldn't use their tiny one on the plane. So if she had to sit and wait for 30 mins or longer, it would have been nearly disastrous. So I understand the frustration you experienced. But just know that Southwest's employees are still hands-down the best airlines! If Southwest have this issue, I can guarantee that the others do in their corresponding cities as well.  On a side note, it was really encouraging to see so many people out traveling again. Our economy is attempting to bounce back and that is wonderful.  Have safe flights everyone!

Re: no wheel chair assistance on Sunday

NicoleAshley
Employee
Employee
Solution

@slotmanal We're sincerely sorry for letting you down on your recent trip. As a Customer-to-Customer support forum, we are unable to assist you here, but I encourage you to Contact Customer Relations for assistance looking into your specific situation. Thank you.

 

Nicole
Community Manager

Re: no wheel chair assistance on Sunday

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

@slotmanal Thank you for your service.  Now, you took the time to create a post, can you take the time to answer the question directed to you about contacting the airport.  I know that for SWA there is outside baggage on the curb.  If you address the wheelchair concern to them, they try and assist in getting a wheelchair for you.  And as already addressed, that falls on the airport, not specifically the airlines.