A New Jersey mom has accused United Airways of mistreating her disabled son throughout a flight from Tampa, Florida, claiming flight workers repeatedly pressured her to take away her disabled son’s ventilator earlier than take-off.
Melissa Sotomayor shared her ordeal in a now-viral TikTok video, which has amassed over 1,000,000 views. Within the video, she defined that her son depends on a tracheostomy, ventilator, and transportable oxygen concentrator on account of his medical situation, which additionally impacts his imaginative and prescient and listening to.
Sotomayor stated that she ensured all needed medical documentation was so as earlier than boarding, simply as she had for his or her outbound flight with no points. Nevertheless, hassle arose on their return flight when a male flight attendant instructed her to take away her son’s ventilator and oxygen concentrator for takeoff, claiming it wanted to be secured.
Regardless of offering documentation proving her son’s medical wants, the scenario escalated as two extra flight attendants and even the captain approached her with the identical demand. Sotomayor stated she repeatedly defined that the gear was important for her son’s survival, solely to be met with dismissive responses. At one level, a United Airways workers member allegedly advised her, “He’ll be okay till we’re within the air at a excessive sufficient altitude.”
The crew reportedly advised she might need to alter seats if she refused to conform, resulting in additional misery. Because the airplane sat on the tarmac for over an hour, different passengers spoke up, calling out the airline’s remedy of Sotomayor and her son as “harassment.”
Finally, the flight proceeded with out her having to take away the gear, however Sotomayor described feeling humiliated by all the expertise. She later escalated her criticism to United Airways’ company workplace, solely to be advised that the airline was following federal aviation administration (FAA) pointers.
Her video has sparked outrage on-line, with viewers calling for a boycott of United Airways and urging her to take authorized motion underneath the People with Disabilities Act (ADA). Some commenters identified that airline workers are usually not permitted to ask for medical documentation at boarding, as such info is usually supplied upfront.
