BA turns girl away because she has Down's syndrome

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BA turns girl away because she has Down's syndrome
Alice, 12, barred from Gatwick-Glasgow flight

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... drome.html
A girl of 12 was refused a plane ticket by British Airways staff because she has Down’s syndrome.

The mother of Alice Saunders was stunned when she was told her daughter could not fly unaccompanied as it was the company’s policy not to accept passengers with Down's travelling alone.

Heather Saunders, 49, had phoned the airline to book Alice a flight from Gatwick to Glasgow.

Heather said: ‘I explained I wanted her to travel as an unaccompanied minor, she was 12 years old, she had Down’s syndrome and was very independent.

‘The woman said, “Our policy says we don’t take children with Down's syndrome”. When asked why, the BA customer service agent responded: ‘Because we’ve had problems in the past.’


Mrs Saunders added: ‘They advise you let them know of any additional needs. I said, “What if I hadn’t told you?”

‘She said they would have turned her down when she arrived because she’s got Down’s syndrome.’

Asked what the position would be if the passenger were a child on the autistic spectrum, the BA staff member said: ‘We wouldn’t be able to see that.’

Alice, who planned to go to Glasgow to visit her aunt, attends a mainstream school, reads as well as an average 12-year-old, and regularly goes away with church and Guide groups.

She lives with her parents and three older siblings in Littlehampton, West Sussex.

Mrs Saunders said: ‘We didn’t know Alice had Down’s syndrome before she was born.

‘Our expectation has always been she would do what her siblings have done – with extra support. Alice knows she has Down’s. She’s very proud of the fact.

‘We’ve never had any problem with discrimination before.’

She added: ‘I was very cross after speaking with British Airways and I got crosser afterwards.

‘It was discrimination against people with a disability but more worryingly people with a specific disability. BA should be better informed.

‘This is 2011. Most of the world has moved on in terms of their treatment of people with learning disabilities. People with Down’s syndrome go to mainstream school, college, they live independently, they hold down jobs but, it would seem, cannot travel independently with British Airways.’

Carole Boyes, chief executive of the Down’s Syndrome Association, said she was surprised to learn of BA’s behaviour.

She said: ‘I couldn’t understand it. It seemed very strange.’

A BA spokesman said it was not company policy to refuse solo flyers with Down’s syndrome.

She added: ‘We will carry any child over five years old as an unaccompanied minor provided they can go to the toilet unassisted, feed themselves, and behave in a socially acceptable manner.

‘This includes children who have Down’s syndrome and other additional needs.

‘We apologise unreservedly for the upset caused to Mrs Saunders and her daughter. Our customer service agent made a mistake and we will ensure this is rectified.

‘We will be happy to accept Mrs Saunders’ daughter as an unaccompanied minor.

‘We have offered Mrs Saunders two return flight tickets as an apology,’ she added.

I understand the airline's concern, however Down's Syndrome causes varying degrees of cognitive and physical issues and different levels of functioning. I knew a man with Down's Syndrome who had the mind of a four year old, and I've known a girl with Down's Syndrome who emotionally and cognitively was no different than other teenagers her age. I think the airlines should really decide these matters on a case by case basis.

Man, that's ret*d (no pun intended). People with down's syndrome can have normal intelligence and can be as physically and mentally capable as their peers in every way. It's amazing some of the things you hear about airline employees saying and doing.

That kind of reminds me of a story from about 5 or 6 years ago about a teenage brother and sister that were traveling across the US and the airline wanted to have the brother restrained for the duration of the flight. Luckily the sister was able to convince them that was totally unnecessary, but I don't think there was ever any adult that raised hell on their behalf.

I was driving a school bus when a ten year old Down Syndrome kid decided to throw a tantrum. It was ten times worse than an average kid's tantrum. There was no reasoning, no compromise, and no end to it. You know what he was demanding? He wanted me to drive to his grandmother's house in another town. I was able to call the parent and have the kid picked up halfway through the route, but his antics put me 30 minutes behind schedule and upset the other kids on the bus. Imagine that at 40000 feet.

Are they deranged or what?!



Yes, but the airline probably has neither the time or the inclination to study its passengers, so it applies a one-size-fits-all rule to save money. Have you ever travelled on budget airlines? The same thinking applies there across the board. Which is why you feel sandwiched into your seat whenever you fly.

A security guard at the airport took away my obviously disabled husband's walking cane and threw it in the trash, saying it could be used as a weapon. My husband was astonished at this treatment, and began complaining loudly to everyone within earshot. A small but very angry mob quickly formed and stormed Customer Service. The evil security guard was fired right on the spot by the managers.

I guess that's a downside to having a disorder that's so visible.

I was thinking that even before getting to this line:

I have no idea what the legal situations is like in the UK, but I'm thinking in the U.S. this would never hold up to a court challenge. The rules should be based on traits that matter, not on associated physical traits.

I totally get that there are other things besides age that influence whether a child can travel unaccompanied, and whether the airline should allow it. But the line shouldn't be drawn based on physical features.

O_O

Did he get his cane back? I would have sued the guard and made sure that both his legs were shattered by the managers, so he would have to use removable parts to walk. That is why I will never fly again, and it is also why I would rather fly in an old de Havilland Comet 1 with the square windows, or a poorly maintained Soviet plane, without any of the security measures, because I would rather risk the plane experiencing explosive decompression or falling apart, than get abused by security.

humanity disapoints on a daily basis.

+1.
So now you know how it feels love. Not nice to be told no that your child can't do something due to conditions. This is what parents with ASD kids go through on a regular basis in various areas.

.

Um there are tests you can get done to check if the baby will have it and this was available back in 1998/1999. If you got that done and found out your kid was gonna be DS you should have done the cruel but kind option by aborting it and you wouldn't be in the situation you are now in duh. Know this sounds bad but it's true. Read my disclaimer in my sig if you have a problem thanks.

Because they apparently think all single adult males are paedophiles given the policies they apply, I have boycotted BA, as well as Qantas and Air New Zealand, and as they are state airlines the Australian and New Zealand states too, and if I wasn't British myself would have boycotted the UK state. I find this Down's syndrome policy every bit as distasteful.

I don't know why they couldn't just say that no 12 year olds are allowed unaccompanied whether they have Downs, autism, ADHD or none of the above. The majority of UK airlines have a no under 14s policy and so I am quite surprised about this one. Saying no purely on the basis of Downs seemed a little wrong though, although I suppose you could understand why they are concerned. Even meeting someone to assess whether they could fly alone on a personal rather than one size fits all basis wouldn't necessarily work either because I might look perfectly capable of flying, but once I'm on the plane might have a meltdown.

BTW disclaimers don't stop people from being jerks. That's really out of order.

BA's one size fits all policy doesn't wash. f**k BA.

Great, Eugenic elimination. Lets have a test for Asperger's and Autism and abort all Aspies next. Any that happen to live, remove their ovaries and testicles so they can't reproduce.

Just a hint that the same methods could be used to get rid of you before you were born, and nearly every person on these forums. Have a think about who exactly that benefits. (Hint, it begins with the letter N).

Despite what so many people here seem to believe, autism and Asperger's are not strictly genetic, and therefore there will never be a genetic test for them. Genes are a factor, yes. But not the only one.