Earlier this year United Airlines announced to passengers that their flight was delayed because they were waiting for pillows and blankets for first class. That seemed like the move that did more to highlight inequality in commercial air travel more than about anything else an airline might have done.
When I read that a wheelchair-bound passenger was trapped at the Atlanta airport by a Porsche that seemed up there, though. It wasn’t a Delta Air Lines Porsche, however (one used for tarmac transfers mostly of Delta 360 elite members on tight connections).
Instead it was a parking lot shenanigan where the Porsche driver had blocked the doors of the passenger’s specially-modified van. The illegally-parked Porsche – intruding on a handicap space – left the woman ‘alone in the dark’ and unable to get into her vehicle to leave.
Parking staff told the woman to call the police. Police told her to deal with parking staff. This went on for hours. The woman’s husband drove out to pick her up, leaving the van behind until the next day when the Porsche was finally towed.
I’ve certainly been to packed airport parking lots, usually during peak holiday periods, though more so lately. People create makeshift spaces. I’m always nervous parking in one of those, afraid I’ll be towed or block someone or that I’ll get hit so I’m more aware of my surroundings when I do. Here the van also had “Extra Space Needed for Ramp or Lift” stickers.
@yvettepegues ♿️ The “special lift area” or diagonal lines around #ADA or #handicapparking ♬ original sound – Yvette Pegues
Be a little more watchful of the cars around you when parking – especially makeshift parking – in the airport lot, would you?
