Why did SWA remove Nick Andrews from a non-stop flight?
August 7, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Why did Southwest Airlines remove 22-year-old Nick Andrews from a non-stop flight from Portland to Chicago and place him on connecting flights from Portland to Oakland to Ontario to Phoenix, and then to Chicago—-keeping him in the air for 12 hours total?
Andrews’ family say that it happened because he has autism, as reported in today’s Fox 12 News (KPTV) (Oregon):
Nick Andrews said he was removed from a non-stop Southwest Airlines flight from Portland to Chicago after explaining the mechanics of jet planes to nearby passengers.
“Just told me, ‘Sir, we’re going to need you to step off the plane,’” said Andrews. “I think they may have been scared of me.”
Because of Andrews’ autism, he fixates on things such as airplanes and loves to talk about them.
“I focus on lots of things like carpet cleaners, power engines and jetliners,” Andrews said.
This is a statement from Southwest Airlines:
“We deeply regret the inconvenience Nicholas suffered. It appears our flight attendants and employees working at the departure gate were unaware that Nicholas has autism. Without knowing the reason for Nicholas’ behavior, our employees had no choice except to make the best decision possible with the information available.”
Andrews’ family did not know where he was for several hours and is seeking an apology from the airlines.
i guess they didn’t think to, like, ASK him, maybe?!
I guess that was too much to ask.
i mean surely your common garden terrorists are not using the classic “yeah, it’s my perseveration” excuse much, are they?!
And making their interests in all things mechanical so obvious.
This speaks to the need for public education and information about autism. Passengers as well as the airline were woefully uninformed.
Southwest did apologize in their statement but should have referred to him as Mr. Andrews and not Nicholas. Why does having autism reduce a man to his first name?
I don’t know if this is news you can use, but I pulled this off of the Southwest Airlines website:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/14cfr.pdf
“U.S. Department of Transportation
14 CFR Part 382
Includes amendments issued through July 2003 (e.g., includes the amendment on reporting of disability-related consumer complaints)
NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL
SUBPART C — REQUIREMENTS
CONCERNING SERVICES”
Excerpt:
Ҥ 382.31 Refusal of transportation.
…
(b) A carrier shall not refuse to provide
transportation to a qualified individual with a
disability solely because the person’s
disability results in appearance or involuntary
behavior that may offend, annoy, or
inconvenience crewmembers or other
passengers
…
SUBPART D — ADMINISTRATIVE
PROVISIONS
§ 382.61 Training.
…(i) The requirements of this part and other
DOT or FAA regulations affecting the
provision of air travel to persons with a
disability; and
(ii) The carrier’s procedures, consistent
with this part, concerning the provision of air
travel to persons with a disability, including
the proper and safe operation of any
equipment used to accommodate passengers
with a disability.
(2) The carrier shall also train such
employees with respect to awareness and
appropriate responses to persons with a
disability, including persons with physical,
sensory, mental, and emotional disabilities,
including how to distinguish among the
differing abilities of individuals with a
disability.
(3) The carrier shall consult with
organizations representing persons with
disabilities in developing its training program
and the policies and procedures concerning
which carrier personnel are trained.
…”
So the policy is there but there appears to be a lapse in implementation. I think that Southwest management themselves may be heaving a big sigh of relief that nothing happened to Mr. Andrews because of changing his flight. This was bad, but if he had gone missing or been robbed, I could see a mega lawsuit in the works.
An apology is the least that could happen. I still wonder if the reason he was bumped was simply for being “annoying”?
(apart from the discrimination, of course)…
all i can think of is how much fun that guy would have been to sit next to. math/ science/ engineering/ mechanics perseverations are not mine, but i find it great fun to listen to (and maybe learn something in the process from) the people who like to go on about those things.
the exchange of information *unrelated* to your special interest is one of the under-reported benefits of hanging out with other autistics.
do most people seriously go up in an airplane without marvelling (as much in curiosity as in surprise) about how the whole thing works, that you can routinely go up in a thing the size of a building that successfully flies through the air at great speeds? ok, maybe they do. but why?
Kristina,
I imagine that you might blog on this, but it caught my attention this AM.
Autistic Boy and Mom Kicked Off Plane
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=5238571&page=1
The story itself sounds somewhat in progress, but it’s the 1000+ comments that are very polarized, and some that make me realize that there are folks who either don’t *get* or have some kind of peeve against those who are differently abled.
Also read about this here.
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/06/23/daily30.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Based on our recent experience with security in the airport, I’m not surprised—
Yeah. What is more disturbing is the negative and sometimes vitriolic tone in some comments about the boy, his mother, how disabled people should behave, what autism is, what people who are differenced are entitled to, and passenger comfort.
I think the DOT and TSA is pretty clear on the safety conditions, but as they state in the rules,
§ 382.31 Refusal of transportation.
…
(b) A carrier shall not refuse to provide
transportation to a qualified individual with a
disability solely because the person’s
disability results in appearance or involuntary
behavior that may offend, annoy, or
inconvenience crewmembers or other
passengers.
…”
There are some aspects related to seatbelts, etc., but the part that sounds wonky to me is the explanation that the boy’s crying represented a safety concern. Sorry, have travelled on enough flights with crying babies to have kind of a blind spot on that one.
It’s reminding me of the comment threads about Adam Race.
Not to become the devil’s advocate, but I still have mixed feelings about the recent surge of incidents of this nature. Yes, there can’t be discrimination against disability, but if it’s not disclosed, then how would you expect the crew and passengers to assume that a person or child has a disability. It’s not tattoed on their heads. And everyone knows that so much has changed since 9/11 to the point of paranoia. Most of the time, the airlines and their crew need to adjust to ever changing government regulations that have to do with anti-terrorism measures. Some of these measures can be down right ridiculous, but they have to comply anyway, or risk being fined. It’s not easy being part of a flight crew these days, that’s all I’m saying.