Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

Note how I corrected the title of this news article. The as-published
title was:

Scammers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Airport Lines Legally

Of course they aren't scammers. I applaud their actions. I might try
it myself the next time this economy recovers and the concept of
"business travel" returns.

Get a load of the name of the author of this story. FEARNOW.

I think this guy was on to something way earlier. He had the right
idea:

http://i.thestar.com/images/03/c7/da...27299ebc9.jpeg

=====================================

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/10/...lines-legally/

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
By Benjamin Fearnow
October 8, 2012 4:38 AM

HOUSTON (CBS HOUSTON) – A wheelchair request can put you at the front of
a long airport line.

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to
cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New
York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act,
airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not
show any proof of disability — free of charge.

And this isn’t news to airport staffers.

“When travelers see that the line is so long, they just ask for a
wheelchair,” Evelyn Danquah, an attendant for Delta Air Lines, told the
Times. She said she has seen some wheelchair fakers stand and walk away
as soon as they clear security. Wheelchair attendants — whose salaries
range between $9 and $14 an hour, with tips, help to maintain a “don’t
ask, don’t tell” policy regarding the line-hopping strategy in hopes of
bolstering their paychecks, the Times reported.

The tactic even spawned a new term among flight attendants: “miracle
flights.” Where passengers use wheelchairs to board but abandon them
when their planes land.

Kelly Skyles, the national safety and security coordinator for the
Association of Professional Flight Attendants, told the Times she
believes travelers shed their wheelchairs because passengers in
wheelchairs are the last to leave the plane.

“Not only do we serve them beverages and ensure their safety — now we’re
healing the sick,” said Skyles, who is also a flight attendant.

Peter Greenberg, author and travel editor for CBS News, said he has
noticed miracle flights on the rise as security has increased in rigor.
He told the Times the scammers will eventually face unpleasant
consequences – even if it’s on a higher level.

“I’m a big believer in karma,” he said. “You don’t put on a dress when
the Titanic is going down so you can get in the first lifeboat.”

=============
Now can someone explain the following item - why it was included in this
story?
=============

Karma wasn’t kind to one wheelchair faker in the past. The Telegraph
reported in late August that Barry Brooks, who had pretended to be
disabled in order to secure nearly $2.9 million in grants — which he
then used to buy luxury cars, motorcycles and a penthouse in Spain — was
sentenced to eight years in prison.

It’s unclear whether deceitful passengers will suffer any penalties in
the future. Jean Medina, spokesperson for industry trade organization
Airlines for America, wrote in an email to the Times that her
organization hopes travelers would refrain from abusing the law.

“We respect our passengers, and we trust their integrity when they seek
wheelchair assistance,” Medina said in the email.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

On Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:34:02 -0400, Fly Guy wrote:


Note how I corrected the title of this news article. The as-published
title was:

Scammers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Airport Lines Legally

Of course they aren't scammers. I applaud their actions. I might try
it myself the next time this economy recovers and the concept of
"business travel" returns.

Get a load of the name of the author of this story. FEARNOW.

I think this guy was on to something way earlier. He had the right
idea:

http://i.thestar.com/images/03/c7/da...27299ebc9.jpeg

=====================================

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/10/...lines-legally/

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
By Benjamin Fearnow
October 8, 2012 4:38 AM

HOUSTON (CBS HOUSTON) – A wheelchair request can put you at the front of
a long airport line.

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to
cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New
York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act,
airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not
show any proof of disability — free of charge.


As my wife is disabled we need to use the wheelchair service at
airports.

You need to book in advance and, certainly in Europe, they sometimes
demand proof of entitlement.

In the Far East it is a lot less easy...

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

In the last episode of , Fly Guy
said:

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to
cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New
York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act,
airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not
show any proof of disability — free of charge.

The fix is pretty simple: Stop letting wheelchairs bypass the security
line. There's little reason that they can't wait in line along with
everyone else, and get screened in order.

--
The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

On Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:47:04 -0700, DevilsPGD
wrote:

In the last episode of , Fly Guy
said:

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to
cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New
York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act,
airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not
show any proof of disability — free of charge.

The fix is pretty simple: Stop letting wheelchairs bypass the security
line. There's little reason that they can't wait in line along with
everyone else, and get screened in order.

Actually there is.

Wheelchairs need wider aisles and the passengers who need one also
need special facilities if they're to submit to a body search.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

In the last episode of ,
Bill said:

On Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:47:04 -0700, DevilsPGD
wrote:

In the last episode of , Fly Guy
said:

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to
cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New
York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act,
airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not
show any proof of disability — free of charge.

The fix is pretty simple: Stop letting wheelchairs bypass the security
line. There's little reason that they can't wait in line along with
everyone else, and get screened in order.

Actually there is.

Wheelchairs need wider aisles

This might well be a factor, but with the aisles, primarily using ropes,
it can be accommodated. At least in most of the airport lines I've
waited in there is more than enough width to accommodate people with
rollerboards who aren't very good at operating them.

Still, a valid factor.

and the passengers who need one also
need special facilities if they're to submit to a body search.

How people are handled once the reach the front of the line is a
different situation entirely and can be handled at that time as needed.

--
The nice thing about standards, there is enough for everyone to have their own.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security LinesLegally
 

DevilsPGD wrote:

How people are handled once the reach the front of the line is a
different situation entirely and can be handled at that time as
needed.

You're forgetting about the people pushing the wheelchairs.

You're not going to make them wait in-line with everyone else.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

On Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:26:42 -0700, DevilsPGD
wrote:

In the last episode of ,
Bill said:

On Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:47:04 -0700, DevilsPGD
wrote:

In the last episode of , Fly Guy
said:

Or, at least, that’s the angle some fully-abled passengers are using to
cut through the winding queues at airport security checkpoints, the New
York Times reported. According to the 1986 Air Carrier Access Act,
airlines are required to accommodate disabled travelers — who need not
show any proof of disability — free of charge.

The fix is pretty simple: Stop letting wheelchairs bypass the security
line. There's little reason that they can't wait in line along with
everyone else, and get screened in order.

Actually there is.

Wheelchairs need wider aisles

This might well be a factor, but with the aisles, primarily using ropes,
it can be accommodated. At least in most of the airport lines I've
waited in there is more than enough width to accommodate people with
rollerboards who aren't very good at operating them.

What there isn't is enough room for someone to be helped through the
scanner if they can't walk...


Still, a valid factor.

and the passengers who need one also
need special facilities if they're to submit to a body search.

How people are handled once the reach the front of the line is a
different situation entirely and can be handled at that time as needed.

No.

Wheelchair passengers sometimes need a cubical to be searched in.

There won't be room for one at every security point.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

On Wed, 10 Oct 2012 23:52:18 -0400, Fly Guy wrote:

DevilsPGD wrote:

How people are handled once the reach the front of the line is a
different situation entirely and can be handled at that time as
needed.

You're forgetting about the people pushing the wheelchairs.

You're not going to make them wait in-line with everyone else.

At airports the wheelchairs are pushed by airport staff.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security LinesLegally
 

Bill wrote:

You're forgetting about the people pushing the wheelchairs.

You're not going to make them wait in-line with everyone else.

At airports the wheelchairs are pushed by airport staff.

Exactly.

You're not going to tie those people up waiting in the security line -
because you'd need MORE of them if you did that. Not a very efficient
use of those people if they had to wait in the security line instead of
walking right to the front of the line.

Clever Frequent Fliers Using Wheelchairs To Skip Security Lines Legally
 

DevilsPGD wrote:

The fix is pretty simple: Stop letting wheelchairs bypass the security
line. There's little reason that they can't wait in line along with
everyone else, and get screened in order.

I agree. It's extremely annoying to work your way up through a long security
line, dump all your stuff on the belt and just as you are about to walk through
the scanner, have someone in a chair cut in front of the line, take 10 minutes
to get out of the chair, find their bording pass and work their way through.