The first rule of customer service: do not assume that just because you can’t see one, someone may not have a disability. Store clerks are taught this. How is it American Airlines customer service didn’t know this?
Former Captain Lisa McCombs has Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PTSD) after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has a service dog that travels with her everywhere – including on and off airlines. McCombs didn’t have a problem getting on a morning airplane trip with the canine, but when she tried to travel home that very same day, she was told she couldn’t take the dog.
Not only wouldn’t the crew allow the PTSD veteran to board with her service dog, they allegedly humiliated her numerous times.
Is this what we’ve come to America?
From Army Times:
Former Capt. Lisa McCombs was heading home from a quick day trip to Kansas last year when she ran into road block — American Airlines staff wouldn’t let her fly home with her service dog, even though she’d had no problem getting him there that morning.
Now the Iraq and Afghanistan veteran is suing the airline for exacerbating her post-traumatic stress during a two-day ordeal in which members of their Manhattan, Kansas, crew refused to honor her tickets and publicly humiliated her multiple times, according to a lawsuit filed this week in her home state of Mississippi.
The 35-page brief lays out in detail the prior-enlisted engineer officer’s experiences from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27 last year when trying to return home to Gulfport, Mississippi.
McCombs served from 2005 to 2009, including a 2006 deployment to Iraq and 2008 deployment to Afghanistan, according to her service records.
Reached for comment via Facebook, McCombs deferred to her attorney.
“We try not to try our cases in the media,” Christopher Van Cleave told Army Times on Thursday, declining to give details on McCombs’ trip to Kansas or her medical care since the incident.
This is disgusting behavior from an incompetent and insensitive staff. Soldiers often come back from war with PTSD, and veterans deserve respect and understanding for all their sacrifices.
Unfortunately, too many people are abusing service dog claims right now. Therefore, airlines think everyone is trying to scam the airline to have their dogs fly for free. This is a perfect incident where someone who is in need of this service was denied because of people who abuse this right. Although I think documentation, should be provided by the owner of the service dog to show the reason for the animal flying with the passenger.
What would you think will happen in this case? Do you think McCombs will get satisfaction for what American Airlines did to her? Share your comments below and add this story to your Facebook/Twitter timeline.
