[access-uk] Re: Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers

Barbara, 

I respect Barry's ruling but I have been away from my computer for a few days 
now! 

Briefly I travelled with my wife
  who is sighted from Stansted with Ryanair and we were seated with myself on 
the outside seat with no one else beside us (no guide dog and that ) when just 
before take off we were demanded to change seatts with each other; how daft was 
that! 

  Tony Sweeney----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Barbara Wilson 
  To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 8:02 AM
  Subject: [access-uk] Re: Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers


  I know Barry has declared this off topic, but just wanted to say Eleanor, 
  that it seems most airlines have a policy of not letting anyone with a 
  mobility impairment sit at an emergency exit.


  Find me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/barkingbabs
  Barbara Wilson
  M: 07917710779
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  Skype: creativeeyes

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: "Eleanor Burke" <eleanorburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 12:44 AM
  Subject: [access-uk] Re: Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers


  > Thanks for that Ian. I was bewildered as we are 5 years on. Still as I 
  > mend my way to Heathrow later today with my guide dog I breath a sigh of 
  > relief as I know my guide dog Neela will be welcome on Aer Lingus. I was 
  > moved fr,om my seat when travelling to France on a Ryanair flight. I was 
  > at an emergency exit and was informed that I might cause an accident in 
  > the event of an emergency landing due to my visual impairment. I had  no 
  > choice and had to move!
  >
  > -original message-
  > Subject: [access-uk] Re: Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers
  > From: "Iain Lackie" <ilackie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  > Date: 15/12/2010 12:19 am
  >
  > Judging by the dateline, Is this not rather old news?
  >
  > Iain
  >
  > -----Original Message----- 
  > From: Peter Beasley
  > Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 12:15 AM
  > To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  > Subject: [access-uk] Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers
  >
  >
  > Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers
  > Ryanair is attacked for ejecting blind passengers
  > By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
  > The Independent, Thursday, 13 October 2005
  > Ryanair, the no-frills airline, is under fire from disability
  > campaigners for ejecting nine blind and partially sighted passengers from 
  > a
  > plane just minutes before take-off.
  > The passengers, who were travelling to Italy for a walking holiday, had
  > completed check-in procedures and were sitting on the plane at Stansted 
  > when
  > the pilot announced they would have to vacate their seats. They were then
  > "marched" off and escorted back to the airport lounge.
  > Some waited six hours for another flight while others were forced to sleep
  > on the airport floor overnight. One of the party was so distressed by the
  > incident - to be featured on BBC's Watchdog
  > programme next week - she abandoned her holiday.
  > "It was dreadful. You felt like a criminal. We were all devastated," one 
  > of
  > the blind passengers, Beryl Barton, from Norwich, said. "Five minutes 
  > before
  > take-off the pilot asked: 'Are many of you blind?' and we said: 'Yes, one 
  > or
  > two' and he said: 'We have already got disabled people on the flight and 
  > you
  > will have to get off'. They marched us through to the lounge and this lady
  > came and she said: 'Of course, you got off of your own accord' and we
  > shouted: 'No, we haven't."
  > There was no safety justification, she insisted: "We can all walk.
  > We've all got a partially-sighted or sighted guide. We could get off as
  > quickly as anyone else."
  > Ryanair explained it could not take the customers because it already had
  > three "disabled" people on board (unconnected to the party) and it
  > stipulates no more than four "disabled" people on each flight.
  > However, the organiser of the trip, Katherine Hurst said she rang Ryanair
  > eight months before she travelled to check there would be no problems. She
  > said: "The pilot said: 'How would you manage if the cabin was full of 
  > smoke'
  > but it wouldn't make any difference. They are used to not seeing."
  > Ryanair, whose chief executive is Michael O'Leary, has a controversial
  > record on disabled people. Last year, it lost a case brought by a disabled
  > man who was charged 18 for the use of a whreelchair.
  > Afterwards it said that it would have to raise ticket prices as a result.
  > The Royal National Institute for the Blind has received eight complaints
  > about Ryanair, an unusually high number about one company.
  > In one case, it is considering legal action. Jane Vernon, its legal 
  > officer,
  > said: "I think Ryanair's whole attitude towards disabled people is
  > disgraceful. Saying on their website they are charging an extra 50p per
  > ticket to pay for wheelchairs for disabled people is despicable."
  > Ryanair insisted its policy on disabled passengers was "clearly 
  > highlighted"
  > on its website and did not know of the RNIB's cases. It said it had
  > "repeatedly apologised" to the passengers removed from the plane.
  > In-flight turbulence
  > Bob Ross took on Ryanair over being charged 18 for the use of a wheelchair
  > at Stansted in March 2002. When Mr Ross, a cerebral palsy sufferer, won 
  > the
  > case , Ryanair was quick to appeal, saying a 50p surcharge on all tickets
  > would be levied to cover the cost of providing wheelchairs. They lost the
  > appeal.
  > In March this year, Ryanair was fined 24,000 for misleading customers 
  > about
  > the price of flights from Stansted.
  > This year, the airline, which charges employees for uniforms, announced 
  > that
  > mobile phones must not be charged at work.
  > An advert launched just after the London bombings featured Winston 
  > Churchill
  > saying: "We shall fly them to the beaches ... we shall fly them to London"
  > It drew 319 complaints, but was deemed "suitably respectful" by the
  > Advertising Standards Authority.
  > From:
  > http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ryanair-is-attacked-f
  > or-ejecting-blind-passengers-510715.html
  >
  >
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