Latest news with #SherriBrun
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Two blind women left as only people on flight after other passengers rebooked onto earlier journey
Two blind women are calling for accessibility improvements after boarding a delayed Southwest flight, only to find they were the only two on it while all other passengers were rebooked for an earlier departure. Sherri Brun and Camille Tate had booked seats together on Southwest flight 2637 departing from New Orleans to Orlando on 14 July. After a five-hour delay, the two friends finally took off, but found that they were the only two passengers on board for the almost two-hour journey. Speaking to Orlando news station FOX 35, Brun and Tate explained that they had waited by their assigned gate, checking the Southwest app for updates. Meanwhile, unknown to them, nearly all other passengers had been rebooked on a separate Southwest flight to Orlando that was due to depart earlier than the delayed trip. This new flight had departed from a nearby gate, while Ms Brun and Ms Tate continued to wait at their gate for the delayed journey. "Nobody said a word to us about another flight," Ms Brun told the local station. "We were just waiting at the gate, checking the app, like everyone else." Ms Tate called on the airline for 'some improvement in how they communicate with their passengers, especially those that have disabilities.' Mrs Brun claimed that they were both told: "You're the only two people on this flight because they forgot about you.' However, Southwest says that reports that it 'forgot' the women are inaccurate. 'Many of the customers on that flight were accommodated on another MCO-bound flight that left a little earlier from a nearby gate,' an airline spokesperson told The Independent. 'We attempted to locate the two customers, but were unable to find them in time to rebook them on that flight. 'Our records show they flew to MCO on the airplane that had been parked at their original gate,' the airline said. Southwest issued $100 vouchers as compensation for the delayed travel. A full refund is not available as the two women completed their flight. 'We apologise for the inconvenience. Southwest is always looking for ways to improve our Customers' travel experiences, and we're active in the airline industry in sharing best practices about how to best accommodate Passengers with disabilities, the spokesperson added. Southwest said that for customers who are blind, escort and navigation assistance is available from the airport curb to and from gates and between gates for connecting flights. It said that customers must identify themselves and the type of assistance they require to a Southwest employee when they arrive at the airport, at any connection points, and when they land at their destination. 'In the event of a gate change, our employees are responsible for ensuring all customers who need assistance reach the new gate,' the spokesperson the daily Crossword
The Independent
19 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Two blind women left as only people on flight after other passengers rebooked onto earlier journey
Two blind women are calling for accessibility improvements after boarding a delayed Southwest flight, only to find they were the only two on it while all other passengers were rebooked for an earlier departure. Sherri Brun and Camille Tate had booked seats together on Southwest flight 2637 departing from New Orleans to Orlando on 14 July. After a five-hour delay, the two friends finally took off, but found that they were the only two passengers on board for the almost two-hour journey. Speaking to Orlando news station FOX 35, Brun and Tate explained that they had waited by their assigned gate, checking the Southwest app for updates. Meanwhile, unknown to them, nearly all other passengers had been rebooked on a separate Southwest flight to Orlando that was due to depart earlier than the delayed trip. This new flight had departed from a nearby gate, while Ms Brun and Ms Tate continued to wait at their gate for the delayed journey. "Nobody said a word to us about another flight," Ms Brun told the local station. "We were just waiting at the gate, checking the app, like everyone else." Ms Tate called on the airline for 'some improvement in how they communicate with their passengers, especially those that have disabilities.' Mrs Brun claimed that they were both told: "You're the only two people on this flight because they forgot about you.' However, Southwest says that reports that it 'forgot' the women are inaccurate. 'Many of the customers on that flight were accommodated on another MCO-bound flight that left a little earlier from a nearby gate,' an airline spokesperson told The Independent. 'We attempted to locate the two customers, but were unable to find them in time to rebook them on that flight. 'Our records show they flew to MCO on the airplane that had been parked at their original gate,' the airline said. Southwest issued $100 vouchers as compensation for the delayed travel. A full refund is not available as the two women completed their flight. 'We apologise for the inconvenience. Southwest is always looking for ways to improve our Customers' travel experiences, and we're active in the airline industry in sharing best practices about how to best accommodate Passengers with disabilities, the spokesperson added. Southwest said that for customers who are blind, escort and navigation assistance is available from the airport curb to and from gates and between gates for connecting flights. It said that customers must identify themselves and the type of assistance they require to a Southwest employee when they arrive at the airport, at any connection points, and when they land at their destination. 'In the event of a gate change, our employees are responsible for ensuring all customers who need assistance reach the new gate,' the spokesperson added.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Two blind women find themselves the only passengers on Southwest flight 'after staff FORGOT about them'
Two blind women claim they found themselves to be the only passengers on a Southwest flight after they say staff 'forgot' about them. Sherri Brun and Camille Tate, from Florida, were flying from New Orleans to Orlando on July 14 on Southwest Flight 2637 when their flight got delayed for nearly five hours. The two blind women told FOX 35 that they were left sitting at a gate for hours before they boarded their flight, only to discover they were the only passengers aboard. 'You're the only two people on this flight because they forgot about you,' Brun said they were told. The staff had allegedly rebooked everyone else without telling them, they told the local outlet. The airline disputes their 'inaccurate' account. The friends said they patiently waited by their assigned gate - checking Southwest's app for updates but didn't hear of any changes. 'Nobody said a word to us about another flight,' Brun told the outlet. 'We were just waiting at the gate, checking the app, like everyone else.' Now the pair are urging the airline to improve their communication with disabled passengers. 'There needs to be some improvement in how they communicate with their passengers, especially those that have disabilities,' Tate said. But Southwest has denied 'forgetting' about the two women and claimed the pair remained booked on their original flight. Despite apologizing for the inconvenience and offering a $100 stipend, the airline said there were no changes to the original flight and these are 'inaccurate accounts' of what occurred. 'We have seen inaccurate accounts that suggest we 'forgot' the two customers, or that we sent a plane back to get them,' a Southwest spokesperson wrote. 'Neither of these is the case.' 'The Customers were scheduled on Flight 2637. Although it ran almost five hours late that day, it remained their same flight number throughout.' 'We apologize for the inconvenience,' the airline said. 'Southwest is always looking for ways to improve our customers' travel experiences, and we're active in the airline industry in sharing best practices about how to best accommodate passengers with disabilities.' In April, a blind teenager also slammed Southwest Airlines after a flight attendant shamed the college student publicly - before she was left stranded in an unfamiliar airport with no assistance following an excruciating 30 hours of travel. Maddy Kolb, 19, was flying to Harford, Connecticut, from her hometown of Dallas, Texas, when she was left in tears due to what she says was a staff member's alleged 'hostility.' Maddy, who takes an average of '12 to 14 Southwest flights a year,' was put on a flight which had a layover in Tampa, Florida - which she'd never stopped over in before. 'I am legally blind, I'm a white cane user, and I have meet and assist with Southwest,' Maddy recounted in a now-viral TikTok video. 'I have pre-board with Southwest, I have blind stamped on all of my boarding passes.' Her plane had to disembark due to bad weather, with the airline rebooking the flights for everyone which resulted in Maddy spending six hours in the Tampa airport. She was put on a flight to Hartford via Baltimore and was told by ground staff to let the flight attendants know that her next flight was leaving shortly after they landed so she could be taken straight there. '[I was told] they were going to wait for me, due to my blindness... they were going to hold the plane for me,' she recounted. When she boarded the plane, she said she was met with a flight attendant who told her she was 'not special,' and it 'doesn't matter that I had a flight to get to.' 'Basically that I'm not important and it didn't matter,' she said.
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Southwest Airlines offers two blind women measly $150 credit after leaving them behind
Southwest Airlines has apologised to two blind women who were left behind at their gate while waiting for their flight to Orlando, but only offered them $150 for the inconvenience. Friends Camille Tate and Sherri Brun were planning to fly home from New Orleans on July 14, but their flight was delayed by five hours, leaving them temporarily stranded after the airline rebooked all other passengers on another, earlier flight. When they eventually boarded the plane at their original gate, they were the only two passengers on board, The Guardian reported. 'Nobody … told us anything,' Ms Brun said, according to local stations WSVN and WOFL. 'Nobody came to get us … The time passed.' The women said they had no idea there was an earlier option because nobody told them and they were unable to read any signage announcing the gate change. Ms Brun said she and Ms Tate were told, 'You're the only two people on this flight because they forgot about you.' 'That aeroplane took off and our boarding pass had not been swiped,' Ms Tate said, according to the outlets. Ms Brun and Ms Tate said they told their story to the media to highlight some of the struggles faced by travellers with disabilities that the broader population often wasn't aware of. Southwest offered the women a $A150 travel voucher, saying they weren't eligible for a full refund because they had technically completed their originally scheduled flight, a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement. 'We apologise for the inconvenience,' the spokesperson said. 'Southwest is always looking for ways to improve our customers' travel experiences, and we're active in the airline industry in sharing best practices about how to best accommodate passengers with disabilities.' The airline said customers are responsible for identifying themselves and any special assistance they require to a Southwest employee once they arrive at the airport. However, in the event of a gate change, the airline noted, 'employees are responsible for ensuring all customers who need assistance reach the new gate'. Ms Brun told Fox 35 in an interview that the airline should do more to avoid similar incidents in the future. 'The way they help their customers that require additional assistance needs to change. There needs to be follow through,' she said. Ms Tate agreed, adding there 'needs to be some improvement' in how the airline conveys information to passengers, 'especially those that have disabilities.' Unfortunately, airlines failing to adequately accommodate passengers with disabilities is somewhat common. In April, a paralysed man was left without his wheelchair when he returned home from a Hawaiian vacation because American Airlines didn't load it on the aircraft, he claims. That same month, a 79-year-old British man who uses a wheelchair was reportedly booted from an easyJet flight from Manchester, England to Athens, Greece because he couldn't walk to the lavatory.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Fox News
Two blind women say they became only passengers on Southwest flight after airline 'forgot about' them
Two blind women from Florida recently discovered they were the only passengers aboard their Southwest Airlines flight from New Orleans to Orlando, saying the company needs to improve how it communicates with passengers who have disabilities. Sherri Brun and Camille Tate were traveling together on Southwest Flight 2637, scheduled to depart New Orleans on July 14. Following a nearly five-hour delay, the two friends finally boarded their flight, only to discover they were the only two people on the plane, FOX 35 reported. "You're the only two people on this flight because they forgot about you," Brun said the two women were told. Brun and Tate said they had waited by their assigned gate, checking Southwest's app for updates. However, unbeknownst to them, nearly all the other passengers had been rebooked on a separate Southwest flight to Orlando that departed earlier from a nearby gate, FOX 35 reported. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, airlines must provide prompt and effective communication for passengers with visual impairments, especially during delays or rebookings and boarding changes a federal law under the Air Carrier Access Act. Brun and Tate said that requirement was far from met. "Nobody said a word to us about another flight," Brun said. "We were just waiting at the gate, checking the app, like everyone else." "There needs to be some improvement in how they communicate with their passengers, especially those that have disabilities," Tate said. "We have seen inaccurate accounts that suggest we 'forgot' the two customers, or that we sent a plane back to get them," a Southwest spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an email. "Neither of these is the case. … The Customers were scheduled on Flight 2637. Although it ran almost five hours late that day, it remained their same flight number throughout." Southwest said it offered each of the women a $100 travel voucher as compensation for the delay. "We apologize for the inconvenience," Southwest told Fox News Digital. "Southwest is always looking for ways to improve our customers' travel experiences, and we're active in the airline industry in sharing best practices about how to best accommodate Passengers with disabilities."
