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Oh wow! Unfreakinbelievable!
I heard MEA ordered the case to be investigated and I hope they do it quickly and apologize to Rola because this is unacceptable.
Disabled Lebanese Journalist Roula El Helou Denied Boarding On Mea Flight
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I don’t mean to be a party pooper. But there is a law stating that a handicap person is BY INTERNATIONAL LAW not allowed to board a plane in case there is an emergency evacuation, the disabled person needs to have someone present to take responsibility for helping them evacuate. Now the shitty attitude of a supervisor is something else. But she should know better than to spin a story and using her own disability for media attention. Laws are laws. They shouldn’t be skipped just because someone had media power.
MissD5,
I don’t think it’s mandatory to have an attendant present. It depends on the disability in question and she’s traveled before without assistance so why didn’t they apply the law back then?
Here are rules about traveling with an attendant that I found online. They should have let her board the plane or provided an assistant before denying her IF they judged her case to be from one of the below. We need to dig out the Sky team (Since MEA is part of them) rules in that regards to be sure
http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2012/06/05/air-travelers-with-disabilities-here-are-your-rights/
Traveling with an attendant
Traveling with an attendant is generally not required. Airlines may require a person with a disability to travel with an attendant (someone to help the person during the flight in case of an emergency) only if the airline staff determines the person:
Is unable to comprehend or respond appropriately to safety instructions;
Has a mobility impairment so severe that the person is unable to assist in his or her own evacuation from the aircraft; or
Has both severe hearing and severe vision impairments which prevent him or her from receiving instructions from in-flight personnel.
If the airline determines that you need an attendant and you are traveling alone, there are other options an airline can try before denying you travel. The airline may appoint an off-duty staff member who is otherwise traveling on the flight or you may ask another passenger to volunteer to assist you in case of an emergency.
However, the airline is not required to provide you with an attendant, even if they determine one is necessary for you to fly.
Here’s the MEA link, no mention of attendants but it doesn’t look like the full text:
http://www.mea.com.lb/English/TravelerInfo/Pages/PassengerServices.aspx#other
and here’s the Airfrance one:
http://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common/guidevoyageur/assistance/pmr_accompagnateur.htm
MEA always had horrible customer service. A lot of customers have complained about there treatment towards passengers. I hope she wins the lawsuit, because nobody should be treated with disrespect and to riddicule her of her disability.
I bloody hope heads will roll for this.
I agree with miss d5 totally 100%
As a frequent flyer who spends around 60-70% of my time traveling And an MEA frequent flyer with the priveledges that come with that, I have to say that MEA staff have a really poor attitude.
If it wasn’t for irrational blind Lebanese loyalty I would avoid the airline. Their staff forget that (i) they are in the service industry, (ii) they are representing the nation as employees of the national carrier, and, (iii) passengers contribute revenue to pay their salary!
I really hate to say it but MEA probably represents the Lebanese nation much more accurately than we would like… full of bad politics, corruption, arrogance and bad attitude.
I hope that this is one PR disaster that won’t go away punishing the usual indifference MEA demonstrate everyday.
oh for God’s Sake… stop the BS… look at her she looks like a b***h, can you a call a handicapped person a b***h?! well shee sure is a handicapped b***h… i saw her yesterday on new tv, she said that she made fun of the attendant by saying that she can walk, he knew that she was making fun of him and he told her ok get up and walk, so let me get things straight, a handicapped person can make fun of people and the people can’t reply?! i thought she was against discrimination, and as they say in lebanon ” lli biddo ydi22 l beib biddo yisma3 l jaweib ”
yes the attendant did a mistake by replying but not because she is handicapped, it’s because she is a customer and that’s it. this has nothing to do with MEA, people grow up for a bit and think, this was an issue with an attendant, who was following rules and regulations (maybe he misunderstood the rules, but still he was doing his job) until roula came and mocked him, he replied in a mean way and he told her these are the rules get out… in a bad manner?! maybe, MEA should compensate?! maybe… MEA should be crucified?! hell no…